GHMC initiates plan to boost groundwater levels with RWH

Hyderabad: Aiming to make the most of the coming monsoon and to harvest rainwater, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation aims to construct rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures in all types of properties in Greater Hyderabad to protect and save the rainwater for regular usage and also to increase the ground water level and eradicate urban flooding.

According to GHMC, they are encouraging citizens to construct rainwater harvesting structures in every house, office building, commercial complex, factory, industry, and all other structures to protect and save the rainwater for regular usage and also to increase the ground water level and eradicate urban flooding.

A senior officer at GHMC said that we are explaining to the people about the benefits of the construction of rainwater harvesting structures, including urban flooding eradication, ground recharge, pure rainwater storage, which is usable for drinking, and other purposes. This aims to spread awareness about the importance of conserving water resources and encouraging responsible water usage among residents.

The officer said that the urban biodiversity wing and engineering wing have taken up the work of construction of rainwater harvesting structures in the GHMC Head Office in consultation with AdvaEnviro Solutions Private Limited. The total area of the GHMC head office is 18,210 sq mts, out of which the total rooftop area of the office building is 2,232 sq mts which has an annual rainwater potential of around 20 lakh litres. In addition to the available rooftop area, the GHMC has also paved runoff and green areas.

GHMC Commissioner Ronald Rose said, “From the available total rooftop area of 2,232 sq mts, initially, it is proposed to utilise the 600 sq mts area of rooftop from which 5.40 lakh litres of rainwater are expected annually. Out of the 5.40 lakh litres of water, 1.20 lakh litres of rainwater are diverted to the storage sump, which is existing on the 1st floor.”

After storage, the leftover water is permitted to go into the injection well to recharge groundwater. The injection well is about 200 feet deep. “In this way, there is a scope for utilising the leftover rooftop area (2232 – 600 = 1632) available to take over further protection of rainwater and store it,” added the commissioner.

Moreover, for tackling urban flooding, five parks, including Kakatiya Park in Habsiguda, KLN Yadav Park, Indira Park, GHMC Park in Sainikpuri, and Techno Park, were chosen for the shallow aquifer project. These shallow aquifers aim to conserve groundwater and address urban flooding issues. It is under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0. collaborating with the GHMC, 'The Rainwater Project' will be completed soon.

To improve water conservation, GHMC and HMWS&SB recently trained a cadre of skilled plumbers and masons in a three-day training for the rooftop rainwater harvesting systems. With this, whenever someone wants to build an RRWH, they can easily find skilled labor. The training will also help in mitigating urban flooding and encourage citizens to build such water harvesting systems at their homes.