Miloni Bhatt

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 (Thane):

For just Rs 14,000, residents of a few housing societies in Thane city near Mumbai have come up with a solution to their water problems.

Instead of letting rainwater just go down the drain during the monsoons they have started harvesting this water.

Pipes from the roofs of every building carry rainwater to a pit on the ground, which then percolates and replenishes the water table.

"If we keep doing this then the water table will increase and give life back to these hills. We came to live with nature but what we did was that we were eroding nature. But now we are trying to give back," says Rajeev Tipnis, resident, Ashwatha Housing Society.

So far no attempt had been made to harvest rainwater in Mumbai and Thane as both these cities received adequate rainfall. But the erratic rainfall in the last few years has forced authorities to cut down water supply by 10 per cent this year, hence the growing awareness about the need for conservation.

Civic authorities have now made it essential for every plot over 1,000 square metres in area to harvest rainwater. Any office with centralized air conditioning will have to recycle the waste.

"There is so much of urbanization and concentration of population that there is not much ground left for percolation of water. Therefore we must try and conserve water from terraces or whatever open sources one has," says Punam Singhvi, resident, Hariyali Housing Society.

This experiment has spurred other societies in the vicinity to take similar projects and this is perhaps a small beginning to end the water woes of this housing society.