Corpn forms 200 teams to identify buildings without RWH system

To find out the buildings that lack rainwater harvesting structures and to coerce building owners to set up one, the Greater Chennai Corporation constituted 200 teams – one team for each ward – comprising engineers from Greater Chennai Corporation and Metrowater.

The teams will visit all the buildings in their wards and identify at least 1,000 buildings in each ward that do not have rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures.

The engineers will have to convince the building owners to set up RWH structures.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a coordination and training workshop was conducted at Ripon Buildings in which state municipal administration minister SP Velumani took part.

“In Chennai, there are 8.76 lakh rainwater harvesting structures and in 2018 – 2019, nearly 13,500 RWH structures had been created. The ward-level teams will increase the number of such structures by 2 lakhs,” Velumani said.

The teams have been given a deadline of August 31 so that the RWH structures would be ready before the onset of Northeast monsoon. Zonal officials, senior engineers have been appointed as nodal officials, while regional deputy commissioner and deputy commissioner would monitor the drive.

Responding to reporters’ query, Velumani said that the government does not any plan to provide subsidy to the residents for setting up of RWH structures. But, he hinted that the government might help a group of building owners, who intend to set up combined rainwater harvesting structures.

A Chennai Corporation official said that the civic body would take penal action against the building owners, who fail to set up RWH structures even after a repeated exhortation by the officials. “Rainwater harvesting is mandated in building plan approval and water and sewage connections will not be provided if the building owners fail to set up RWH. We will also tie up with local plumbers and masons before fixing cost for building RWH structures. Residents can contact Corporation-appointed persons if they want to build RWH,” he added.

The government has also directed district collectors to form such teams to step up RWH structures across the state.

Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth Saturday said rain water harvesting (RWH) should be taken up on a war-footing to address the acute water crisis that the state has been going through this summer. The 69-year-old actor was speaking to reporters here on his arrival from Mumbai, where he was shooting for his film Durbar. “As of now, immediate measures that need to be taken is saving rainwater. It should be on a war-footing mode. Then all water bodies, including lakes and ponds, need to be desilted ahead of the monsoon season,” he said to a query on the water crisis prevailing in Tamil Nadu. The city is facing a severe crisis with all four major reservoirs supplying water going bone dry, forcing residents to look for alternatives to tide over the crisis. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio had recently expressed concern over the acute water crisis in Tamil Nadu. The 44-year-old actor, one of the most vocal environmentalists in Hollywood, had shared a post by news outlet BBC on Instagram with the title, “Only rain can save Chennai from this situation”.