KTR to launch rainwater harvesting drive on Feb 1

​Hyderabad: In order to give a big fillip to the rainwater harvesting programme, the Telangana Government is taking up construction of around 1,000 rainwater harvesting structures around the city.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development K. Tarakarama Rao will formally launch this programme on the 1st of February. The TSIIC will take up around 500 rainwater harvesting structures in the IALAs, while the GHMC, water Board will take up 250 each. The DMA has been asked to take up another 250 structures in all the seven ULBs around the city.

MA&UD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar today held a meeting with the officials of water board, GHMC, DMA, TSIIC and ground water department and discussed the modalities for building rainwater structures. He stressed the need to create awareness among the people to promote water conservation and to improve the groundwater for sustainable yields in the borewells. He said that a uniform type design should be formulated for all the harvesting structures with a unique logo. Structures should be identifiable by display boards and they should be maintained properly by proper fencing.

He also asked the officials to take up mapping and geo tagging of all the structures. Steps should be taken to reactivate defunct rainwater structures and also geo tag those structures. People should be encouraged to take up maintenance of these structures, he added. All the 3000 community resource persons in GHMC and Swachh Sevaks should be involved to create awareness among the public, he said.

Water Board Managing Director Dana Kishore suggested that the builders, NGOs and academic institutions should be involved at all stages of programme and propagate importance of maintenance. He observed that private unauthorized borewells and those who are selling water commercially have to be identified and insisted to construct rainwater harvesting structures.

GHMC Commissioner Janardhan Reddy, DMA T K Sridevi and other officials attended the meeting.