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Vol. 3                                      No. 6                          December 2001

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CGWA retires hurt

In December 2001, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) organised rainwater harvesting workshops for resident welfare associations. The CGWA had issued notices stating that come December 31, 2001, tubewell owners who have not implemented rainwater harvesting, will have their tubewells sealed and in order to facilitate implementation, these workshops were organised. They were in for a rude shock. Anticipating eager ‘students’ all they heard were angry protest by the residents who felt that they were being targeted unfairly and punished as the ban did not apply to the whole of Delhi. Moreover affluent and unauthorised colonies were also left out of this regulation.

CGWA’s ruling applies to colonies, schools, hotels and industrial areas in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, barring the trans-Yamuna region where the water table is high. In addition to sealing of the tubewells, under the Environment Protection Act, defaulters can be imprisoned up to five years and be slapped a fine up to Rs one lakh.

The lessons to be learnt from the people’s response are many: that mere legislation is not enough; that massive awareness is required; and, that the government will have to use both the carrot and stick in the form of incentives (subsidies or tax incentives) for implementing rainwater harvesting schemes, and disincentives in the form of water pricing.

The CGWA has however, taken the easy way out. It has extended the deadline for implementing rainwater harvesting.

Do you know the potential of rooftop water harvesting

Terrace
or Roof Area in Sq m

Approximate rainfall yields in liters for various rooftop areas   and average annual rainfall amount in mm

25
mm
50
mm
100
mm
150
mm
200
mm
250
mm
300
mm
350
mm
400
mm
500
mm
50.0 1,250 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500 20,000 25,000
100.0 2,500 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 50,000
150.0 3,750 7,500 15,000 22,500 30,000 37,500 45,000 52,500 60,000 75,000
200.0 5,000 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 100,000
250.0 6,250 12,500 25,000 37,500 50,000 62,500 75,000 87,500 100,000 125,000
300.0 7,500 15,000 30,000 45,000 60,000 75,000 90,000 105,000 120,000 150,000
350.0 8,750 17,500 35,000 52,500 70,000 87,500 105,000 122,500 140,000 175,000
400.0 10,000 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 200,000
500.0 12,500 25,000 50,000 75,000 100,000 125,000 150,000 175,000 200,000 250,000
Note: 1. Sq m stands for square metres and mm for millimetres 2. Rainfall yield in litres= Roof area in sq.m x rainfall in mm x 1000
Source: Brochure published by ITC group

Try it out yourself:

Rooftop area of your residence =______________ Sq m, Average annual rainfall =___________ mm,  Annual water harvesting potential =___________ litres Even as the demand-supply gap of drinking water is rising every day, we are wasting large amount of primary source of water!

Want to harvest this water?

If yes, write to R K Srinivasan or Suresh Babu S V,
Centre for Science and Environment,
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area,
New Delhi 110 062, Phone: +91-11-608 3394, 608 1124, ext: 267,
Email: rksri@cseindia.org, svsuresh@cseindia.org


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