Kalyan Dombivli civic body to check if housing societies are implementing rainwater harvesting

Though 635 societies have been NOC to carry out rainwater harvesting, Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation is unsure how many are actually implementing the same

The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), though, has given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to 635 societies to carry out the rainwater harvesting five years ago, there is no record on how many residents have actually started the project.

A housing society that has been practicing rainwater harvesting in Kalyan. (RISHIKESH CHOUDHARY/HT PHOTO)

The civic body has now decided to take a status check in all these societies as to whether the project is installed and operational.

KDMC officials will pay a visit to these societies to check the progress of the project. The NOCs were given in 2016-17, as per the KDMC records.

“We will do a review of these societies to ensure the projects are set up after getting the NOC and are being operated as per the rules. The engineers of the water department of the ward offices have been asked to review these societies and prepare a report based on the findings. It will help in taking the necessary steps and make sure rainwater harvesting is practiced,” said Vijay Suryavanshi, commissioner, KDMC.

The study will be carried out over the next few days.

Pramod More, executive engineer, KDMC, said, “In many cases, even if the civic body has given the nod and the builder or developer has made the provision for rainwater harvesting, the residents of the society are not operating the project effectively. This is the reason why not many of the rainwater harvesting projects are successful. The status check will help give more insight to the same.”

According to the KDMC, since 2016 till 2017, the water department has given NOC to 635 societies to carry out the rainwater harvesting. Out of these, 389 societies are in Kalyan and the rest in Dombivli.

One society that has had a rainwater harvesting facility since the last 14 years in Kalyan is still effectively doing it. “Whatever amount of rainwater is collected in the terrace during the rainy days, it goes to the underground collection facility. This project has been undertaken for the last 14 years and is effectively done by the society,” said Sreeniwas Ghanekar, a resident of Om Shrikant Sadan building, Agra Road, Kalyan (W).

In 2000, Lakshmi Niwas building located at Bhattacharya Chowk in Kalyan (W) was the first to carry out rainwater harvesting in Kalyan. A resident of the building, Upendra Karothia, 54, came up with the initiative to harvest rainwater and send it to a nearby dry well.

“As the natural wells in the area were drying, I wanted to fill them up. This is how I decided to take up rainwater harvesting in my building. We collected the water from the terrace and through a pipeline, sent it to a nearby well that was dry. Every year, during the rainy season, the water is collected and sent to the well, which ultimately goes to the land and we manage to save water for the future,” said Karothia.