Have rainwater harvesting structures by Sept: Corporation notice to 60K building owners

In a move to coerce building owners in the city who are yet to construct rainwater harvesting structures, the Greater Chennai Corporation has issued notices to more than 69,000 building owners.

A Chennai Corporation official said that the notices direct building owners to complete construction of rainwater harvesting structures before September end. “We have inspected 2.72 lakh buildings in the city and found 69, 490 without rainwater harvesting structures. We have also directed the owners of 38,507 building, whose structures are damaged or defunct, to renovate them within a week,” the official added. 

The civic body had constituted 200 teams – one for each ward – to inspect buildings in the city to check if rainwater harvesting structures are maintained. Chennai Corporation engineers and Metrowater engineers are part of the teams.

The teams have also identified 238 community wells that were in a disused state across the city and desilted 47 of the identified wells. “We have provided links to the wells with nearby areas so that excess rainwater flows into the wells. We have created 339 recharge wells in streets and other public places without disturbing vehicle movement,” the official explained.

At a rainwater harvesting review meeting held in Ripon Buildings on Saturday, Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash instructed officials to create rainwater harvesting structures in all the buildings in the city before the onset of Northeast monsoon and to create more recharge wells.

According to building rules, owners should provide rainwater harvesting structures and approvals for new buildings would only be issued if the provisions for such structures are proposed in the plan.

With the increased awareness on rainwater harvesting and the recent rainfall, groundwater level in the city has witnessed a rise. “Due to the measures undertaken by the Corporation and Metrowater to increase rainwater harvesting structures, groundwater levels have increased by four ft in the city,” Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said. According to Metrowater data, the average groundwater level was at 7.77 metres and in July, the average level rose to 7.28 metres. A Metrowater official said the demand for water has come down after the rainfall as residents have started tapping water from borewells. “In the last few days, bookings for tanker lorry water have also come down by 50 per cent. However, the major lakes are yet to fill to the brim,” he added.