Blue Hyderabad project set for rollout

Hyderabad: In a bid to increase the groundwater levels in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and Society for Advancement of Human Endeavor (SAHE) in collaboration are launching a project 'Blue Hyderabad' in the first week of June, calling upon the communities to participate in the green venture.

Kalpana Ramesh, CEO, The Rainwater Project (TRP), said, "We have divided the city into 98 blocks. The first basin that we want to work on is the Kondapur and Masjid Banda basin which involves two water bodies - Golconda Lake and Gopi Cheruvu. It is also a great opportunity for local communities to participate in rainwater harvesting (RWH) at a mass scale. For those who want to install RWH in their communities, we will be providing them with pits and injection pots for free in areas common between various communities."

As part of the project, apartments and housing societies would be given all the inputs and knowledge transfer. The run-off rainwater would be diverted to ground and collected in sumps which could be reused. Kalpana says, "The next 40 days are crucial to save the rainwater and replenish the groundwater."

Community participation

This is going to be a one-time effort after which all that the community has to do is maintain the common area pits. The pits would be dug in areas where there is a huge public participation. The team and the volunteers would be guiding the participants by explaining the best options suitable out of several methods of RWH.

How it is done

In the rooftop RWH, the rainwater is diverted to sumps through inline filters which costs around Rs 7,000. After filtration the water is collected in the sump and once it is filled, the excess water is diverted to a dead bore or to a pit next to the working bore or one could install recharge injection well based on the budget. As the RWH pits are dug in common areas, it would help in enriching groundwater for all the communities. Interested people can reach the TRP team at https://therainwaterproject.co or reach them at info@therainwaterproject.com