The five per cent rule

When the modern city of Chandigarh, the first of its kind in independent India, was planned, the construction of a vast lake was thought of and incorporated into the master plan, says S. Vishwanath

MAJOR ATTRACTION: Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh

The morning joggers are focused on their task. The walkers march to a different tune. In the evening children come to play, and families stroll alongside the water. Some take the abundant boats available for paddling. Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, an artificial lake created by joining several ephemeral streams flowing down from the Shivalik hills, is a beautiful water body. When the modern city of Chandigarh, the first of its kind in independent India, was planned, at that stage itself the construction of this vast lake was thought of and incorporated into the master plan.

The lake is now an asset to the city, providing a recreation spot for its citizens and yet being functional by recharging the groundwater. Sukhna, or jheel as it fondly referred to, is the pride of its citizens.

In Raipur city, the capital of Chhattisgarh, is the Budhapara or the Budha Lake. This too has been developed by the authorities with fencing, a bund all around and a massive statue of Swami Vivekananda installed on an island for people to come and pay their respects.

Behind the statue is a waterfall and a park for children to play. Here again, boating facilities are provided.

Unlike Sukhna which is kept in very good condition, Budhapara or the Vivekanada Sarovar as it now renamed, struggles with sewage water inflow and garbage floating around the lake. Over time the city will have to learn how to manage and keep clean this water body and create the right institutions for the purpose.

How it works

In the development circles, especially those who work on water and watersheds, there is a five per cent rule. If a farm, a village or a watershed devotes five per cent of its area to water then it benefits tremendously. A farm pond can store and recharge rainwater with this five per cent land, a pond or a tank can be created in a watershed with this rule to store larger volumes of water.

Cities now need to look upon themselves as large watersheds with several smaller ones within. It is time we visited our urban watersheds with the five per cent rule and plan to incorporate water bodies in all developments and make it mandatory to devote five per cent of land to water.

The second step would be to maintain and manage the water body well based on the ecosystem requirements. Existing tanks and lakes could also be part of the plan, to revive and resuscitate to provide a good quality of life as well as precious water for water starved cities and towns. This would be water wisdom.