Rainwater harvesting is the way to go

Nearly 65 per cent of the city already has stormwater drains and there is a proposal to provide the remaining area with the same in phases.

Coimbatore should have been free of water-logging during the rainy months, but it was not so.

While there are areas in the city that habitually get water logged every rainy season, this time other locations such as the Sungam junction, saw water stagnation for unusually long hours during the recent rains.

“We had a meeting even before the monsoon and ensured that storm water drains were cleaned,” a senior official of the Corporation said.

The officials say that only low lying areas were affected during the recent rains.

The local body plans to take up a complete study, map the entire city, assess areas where measures are needed to avoid water-logging, and encourage construction of rainwater harvesting structures.

On several streets, the residents have covered the drains by extending the front portion of the house till the road, or the storm water drain does not have a proper slope for water to flow into it, says Manoharan, who resides in Singanallur.

Constructing rainwater harvesting structures and cleaning the stormwater drains regularly will avoid water logging on the roads, says Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli. “We have constructed over 500 rainwater harvesting structures on roadsides, institutions and open grounds,” she says.

She added that in the places where rainwater harvesting structures were constructed and maintained properly, there was no loss of water during the rains and the groundwater level had improved.

The residents of each locality could join hands and construct rainwater harvesting structure in their area so that water does not stagnate on the roads.

K. Viswanathan, former president of Builders’ Association of India, suggests that water harvesting should be at the local level.

We have 4 rainwater harvesting structures on the 52 acre premises. Almost 90 per cent of the water is harvested and the groundwater level has gone up.

R. Jayakumar,Commandant of RAF 105 Battalion

The recent rain showed that Coimbatore needs a permanent solution to water logging