MCG to start surveying rain water harvesting pits next month

After performing poorly in rainwater management for two consecutive years, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is all set to undertake a survey of rainwater

After performing poorly in rainwater management for two consecutive years, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is all set to undertake a survey of rainwater harvesting pits in the city from next month onwards, said officials on Friday.

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The survey will ascertain the existing conditions of all 627 harvesting pits in the city. Depending on the findings, MCG officials will undertake the next course of action.

Vinay Pratap Singh, commissioner, MCG said, “The MCG realises the importance of rainwater in recharging the groundwater table. Hence, this year we are starting out early to ensure that the maximum amount of rainwater can be preserved during this monsoon season. Directions have been issued to initiate a citywide survey from next month onwards.”

According to former MCG commissioner Vinay Singh, only 174 of the city’s 627 rainwater harvesting pits were cleaned before the monsoon season last year. This was revealed during a House meeting in July 2019. Incidentally, the city witnessed a similar scenario in the previous year as well.

In August 2018, for instance, in another House meeting, former MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav had revealed that the civic body was able to clean only 165 rainwater harvesting pits as the contractor chosen for carrying out the cleaning work was finalised only after tenders were floated on three occasions as nobody was able to meet the bid price.

During the same the meeting, Yadav had said the city receives 600-700mm of rainwater and had highlighted the importance of rainwater harvesting pits as a vital source for recharging the depleting groundwater table of the city.

It was in November 2017, that the MCG started taking stock of rainwater harvesting pits in the city after its importance was highlighted by the Gurgaon Action Plan (GAP), a citizen body, in recharging groundwater table. Following this, the MCG, with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, was able to map the location of rainwater harvesting pits in the city with the help of drones.

In 2017 and 2018, GAP worked directly with the MCG for identifying and cleaning rainwater pits through an on-ground survey.

When asked about the upcoming survey, Gauri Sarin, founder of GAP, said that the MCG needs to look into three important aspects. “Firstly, the MCG needs to identify those existing rainwater harvesting pits that need to be completely rebuilt so that they can start tapping rainwater once again. Secondly, they need to identify possible sites where new such facilities can come up. Lastly, they need to increase awareness in Huda sectors which they took over in the last three years where the concept of rainwater harvesting is still new to a large number of residents,” said Sarin.

As per Sarin, in areas, which were developed in the city after the turn of the century, installation of rainwater harvesting pits was made mandatory. This was not so in areas which were developed before.

In January last year, the MCG had hired an agency for cleaning and maintaining all rainwater harvesting pits across the city for a period of two years. However, Sarin said that the agency did not receive adequate funds from the MCG for cleaning pits and the 174 pits which were cleaned had mostly been done by NGOs under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.