
		*PERSPECTIVE*
		National water policy A futile exercise
		*IN FOCUS*
		Water riots breakout in Gujarat Bustards under threat Disappearing lakes and ponds
		*INITIATIVE*
		Delhi prepares to catch rain Watering schools Ready to take action Gokak goes green Journalist's meet
		*TECHNOLOGY*
		Easy steps to catch rain
		*CSE'S LATEST DESIGNS*
		Sankat Mochan Mandir A role model in the making
		CHENNAI PAGE
		Water suficient Municipal water bonds Active campaigner
		*PROFILE*
		Water crusader
		*TRADITION*
		Kata system
		NEWS FROM ABROAD
		A water conscious city Ghana's privatisation woes
		OBITUARY
		Vilasrao Salunke
		BOOK / DOCUMENTS
		Glimpses of book
		EVENTS
		Conference call
		NOTICE BOARD

		WEB INFO

catch.jpg (17001 bytes)
Vol. 4 No. 2 April 2002

Water suficient

People of Padmanabha Nagar (PN) in Adyar, a residential colony situated in coastal track of Chennai city have effectively resolved their drinking water problem, by adopting rainwater harvesting technique.

The rainwater drainpipe carry water to sump

It all started in 2001, when Chennai was going through a period of severe water scarcity. This colony of 65 individual houses, covering an area of around three acres was also facing a problem due to seawater intrusion. The state water supply was not only irregular but limited in quantity as well, thus compelling people to buy water. The middle class resident’s of PN were spending about Rs 2,000 – Rs 3,000 per month on water.

Venkatraman, president of PN welfare association, decided to adopt the technique of rainwater harvesting in his colony. He was assisted by Shekhar Raghavan, a Chennai-based rainwater harvesting facilitator. Venkatraman decided to begin with his house. To demonstrate the benefits of this technique to other residents he designed a diversion pipe (a four inch PVC pipe bend with a reducer of four inch to one inch that can be fitted with any rooftop water downtake pipe of four inch diameter) through which water can be diverted to any part of the house. Initially, to popularise rainwater harvesting among the residents, he also announced a subsidy of Rs 250 for feasibility study.

In 2001, when one night of rain filled the sumps of 4,000 litre capacity with water, people started realising the potential of rainwater harvesting. Today, 54 houses in PN are catching rain.

The designs used are simple. Venkataraman explains, "Rooftop rainwater is diverted to sumps for direct usage". To reduce the cost, pipes near the sump and dug wells are used.

Rainwater harvesting is also strengthening inter community bonds in PN. As Venkatarman narrates, "When Seshadri, a PN resident decided to go for water harvesting, he realised that his neighbour – Krishnaswamy and Afzal’s pipes runs near his dug well. Thus, it would be in everyone’s interest to take collective action. Both of them not only agreed but also gave their financial contribution for the project."It clearly shows that water knows no boundaries of caste or religion – it stays with people, who respects and conserves it.

For further information:

Sekhar Raghavan
Sitalakshmi Raghavan
Memorial Social and Charitable trust,
D15, Bayview Apartments,
Kalakshetra Colony,
Besant Nagar,
Chennai 600 090

Active campaigner
An IIT Professor from Chennai, MV Satyanarayana, is actively campaigning to popularise rainwater harvesting particularly among the student community. His programme essentially starts with a poster exhibition, followed by a presentation and discussion. So far, he has made 12 presentations in and around Chennai city. Many people have contacted him to implement rainwater harvesting systems in their residence. His services are free of cost. Satyanarayana feels that "Though the awareness levels among the people has increased, urbanities are still cynical about the entire concept of rainwater harvesting.

Municipal water bonds
Tamil Nadu’s Urban Development Department is planning to introduce municipal water bonds to raise much needed funds to upgrade and maintain the local infrastructural services, particularly in the water sector. This would requires the citizens to pay the non-subsidised price for the services that they avail.
The state government is thinking of floating these bonds to fund a state level water and sanitation programme. In March, a multi-lateral lending agency discussed its proposal of giving 50 per cent backing to the amount raised for these municipal bonds, on some conditionalities. If the proposal is accepted by the state, the ‘escrow accounting system’ may also be introduced – where the local bodies can be asked to put a certain portion of the tax collected in separate account to meet any repayment defaults. Administrators are considering it as a positive system that would improve the credit ranking of these bonds.

The officials are banking on the changed attitude of people for the success of this scheme. According to them, "People are willing to pay user charges for good services. If the services rendered are improved, the collection rates would also go up, which would positively enhance the financial viability of these bonds." It is also believed that the most of the elected members of urban local bodies who have retained their positions for the second time in the row, due to their own individual creditability would play a significant role in popularising this concept amongst people.

Source: K Ramachandran and T Ramakrishnan 2002
Municipal bonds for water project likely
The Hindu, Chennai, March 6