Expo focuses on rainwater harvesting

School students looking at the exhibits on display at the expo on rainwater harvesting organised for Coimbatore Corporation schools on Friday. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

In order to create awareness among the public through students, an expo on rainwater harvesting was organised here on Friday for Corporation schools.

Students from all the 10 high schools and 16 higher secondary schools run by the civic body took part in the expo, which was held at the Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School at R.S. Puram.

Mayor S.M. Velusamy inaugurated the exhibition.

Corporation Commissioner G. Latha said that houses were given building plan approval only if they had provision for rainwater harvesting structures.

This exhibition was part of the Corporation’s initiatives to raise the awareness levels of the residents of Coimbatore.

A total of 128 models created by 178 students were kept on display during the expo. Students also explained to those visiting the expo how their models would collect rainwater. They were given a month’s time to come up with the models.

Teachers also helped the students create the models. Personnel of the Corporation Engineering section were judges for the event.

Apart from this, a Corporation press release said that essay, elocution and drawing competitions on rainwater harvesting were also held for students of classes VI to XII, who were divided into various categories.

The cash award for first prize in these contests was Rs. 5,000, second prize Rs. 3,000 and the third prize carried Rs. 2,000. Totally, around Rs. 1 lakh would be given out.

The students were told to take the models to their homes so that their parents would realise its importance and install rainwater harvesting structures.