Karnataka - Mangalore   

90 per cent of rainwater harvesting equipment defunct

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

USELESS: The broken pipeline that connects rainwater harvesting equipment with the water tank at Government Higher Primary School in Kumpala, on the outskirts of Mangalore, has rendered the system defunct.

MANGALORE: The staff of Government Higher Primary School, Kumpala, near Thokkuttu on Mangalore-Kasaragod Road, does not seem to be delighted over the rainwater harvesting facility provided to their school in 2006.

This school was among the 618 which had been chosen for the “Suvarna Jala Yojane — 2006-07” of providing rainwater harvesting facility. The scheme was aimed at relieving the schools off their dependence on groundwater. But in most cases, the scheme has not served the purpose.

P. Seethamma, headmistress of the school at Thokkuttu, said: “A part of the pipeline that connects a tank on the playground from the roof of a theatre has broken. The tank does not get filled even when there is a heavy rain.” The leakage in one of the buildings of the school, where the equipment has been kept, has increased. “They have not provided adequate slope to ensure proper flow of water into the apparatus,” Ms. Seethamma said.

At the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School in Pilaru the rainwater harvesting system has been installed on a small building, where an anganwadi centre functions. Although the facility is expected to serve the entire school, the quantity of water collected in the tank, even during heavy rain, is so little that it cannot be depended upon for more than a couple of days, according to the school’s headmistress.

Moses Jaishekhar, block development officer of Mangalore Rural, said the equipment were not working in about 90 per cent of the 114 schools provided with it in his jurisdiction. Citing the examples of government schools in Malar and Ukkuda, where the tanks had collapsed, Mr. Moses said that the zilla panchayat had spent more than Rs. 30,000 a school for procuring the equipment under “Suvarna Jala Yojane 2006-07.”

According to a report placed before the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, the execution of the project work was “poor and inadequate” in 312 of the 618 schools selected for the scheme.

More than 90 per cent of the project was executed by the Dakshina Kannada Nirmiti Kendra, a building centre set up by the Government of India to transfer building technology from laboratory to construction site. The rest of them were taken up by the zilla panchayat’s Engineering Department.

Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) C. Chame Gowda said he had issued a showcause notice to Nirmiti Kendra through chief executive officer of the zilla panchayat P. Shivashankar. “A reply is awaited,” he said.

The issue figured prominently in a meeting of the panchayat’s Standing Committee on Education and Health.

It was stated in the minutes meeting that a detailed report on the quality of works had been submitted along with a compact disc containing video clippings. Only 233 systems were in proper working condition. No work had been taken up in the case of 32 proposals, and 41 others were incomplete.

It had been suggested in the minutes that those works which were yet to be taken up could be withdrawn from the Nirmiti Kendra and handed over to zilla panchayat’s Engineering Department.

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