Even as a slew of new measures are in place to fight the looming water crisis, the poor condition of many rainwater harvesting systems is proving to be a weak link in the initiative.
Without periodic maintenance and proper overhauling, the water channels and cisterns of several rainwater units have become non-functional.
Most of the unused units are in the government sector, where long pending restoration work is likely to eat up a huge portion of funds. Official sources confirm that there has been no maintenance contract for years to guard the system and to make use of the harvested water.
Worst hit
Rainwater harvesting structures constructed under the ‘Jalanidhi’ project of the government in various parts of the district to recharge groundwater sources are the worst-hit. Similar projects on the premises of various government establishments have met with the same plight. The lack of experts to handle repair works is often blamed for the condition of the projects.
Prisons Department officials say two big rainwater harvesting units set up inside the district jail a few years ago are of no use now with leaking cisterns and broken channels. The jail authorities contacted several agencies for getting the service of an expert team, but with little success. Without repairs, the two 10,000-litre capacity tanks will hardly serve the purpose during the monsoon.
“Even experts from the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management are not turning their attention to the sector. The district panchayat too is unaware of the abandoned or partly damaged water harvesting facilities under its control,” says a government official. He adds that the move to set up new rainwater harvesting structures funded by local bodies will make no difference unless the existing ones are properly maintained.
Meanwhile, district panchayat authorities say the district planning committee has already approved the revised plan of several local bodies incorporating new proposals for better water conservation and management programmes. The issues in rainwater harvesting can be solved with the revised plan and with gradual implementation of various components under the Haritha Keralam project, they add.
