Have put up 1.92L posters asking citizens to save water, says BMC

At least 1.92 lakh posters have been put up across the city to raise awareness about water conservation, according to the the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s

At least 1.92 lakh posters have been put up across the city to raise awareness about water conservation, according to the the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) recently released environment report .

HT Image

“Due to late monsoon in 2019, [the BMC], with the help of the public relations and hydraulic engineers departments, printed 1,92,000 posters in Marathi, English and Hindi, appealing Mumbaites to use water judiciously and avoid wastage of water. These posters were pasted in all municipal offices and some private premises across Mumbai,” reads the report, a copy of which is with HT.

Meanwhile, the report does not provide any data under the rainwater harvesting (RWH) section. In 2002, the BMC had made RWH mandatory for areas admeasuring more than 1,000 square metres. Since May 2019, this is applicable for all plots admeasuring more than 500 square metres. However, the report has no data regarding the number of buildings that have adopted RWH methods since then.

The report also identifies 17,993 wells in the city. As part of its plan to protect wells in the city, the BMC had prohibited unauthorized burying of existing wells since January 2003.

“The BMC must focus on improving the ground water reserve and recycling used water rather than RWH. By harvesting rain water, we are depriving the recharge of ground water which in future will lead to desertification of the city,” said Janak Daftari from NGO Jal Biradari.