Even as the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation launched a publicity campaign to sensitise city residents to revive the rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures in residential and commercial buildings, civic officials have started fanning out to different localities to inspect properties and check whether the structures are functional.
On Friday, the corporation officials joined hands with voluntary organisations, self-help groups, and students to take out a rally in Srirangam to spread the message.
The rally, flagged off by R. Manoharan, Government Chief Whip, and P. Kumar, MP, A. Jaya, Mayor, M. Paranjothi, MLA, and V.P. Thandapani, Corporation Commissioner, marched as part of the rally from the Rajagopuram of the Srirangam Sri Ranganthaswamy Temple to Mambazhasalai. A float carrying a model of RWH structure formed part of the rally.
According to the corporation, RWH structures are available in 1,43,503 out of 1,79,177 buildings in the city. Most of them were established in 2002-2003 under the then AIADMK regime.
Mr. Thandapani told The Hindu that a random survey of about 2,000 properties has revealed that about 53 per cent of them had RWH structures and the structures had to be revived in 30 per cent of the properties. The remaining properties did not have the structures and had to be created afresh. Arrangements had been made for tie-ups between corporation-approved contractors and residents so to revive existing structures or create new ones wherever necessary.
“We have commenced the inspection process and five teams of officials have been formed for each of the four zones to carry out the task. We are targeting to create 200 new structures every day,” Mr. Thandapani said.
The corporation has also made available model RWH structures, including ones which are connected to borewells or open wells in the buildings. The civic body is hoping to bring the RWH structures in all buildings in the city be the end of July.
