The city is staring at an acute water crisis that has been exacerbated by drought over the past two years, but is yet to harness the potential of rainwater harvesting.
In 2009, the government made it mandatory for all buildings on 30x40-foot sites and above to harvest rainwater, but data shows the compliance rate is only 51.7%. Of the 1,39,049 properties that are supposed to harvest rainwater as per the rule, just over 72,000 properties are complying. Lax enforcement of the rules is responsible for this gap.
Last year, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) decided to penalise properties that are not complying. From July 2016 till May 2017, it collected ₹7.69 crore in penalties. But records show that the BWSSB penalised only 11,288 properties during this period.
Kemparamaiah, engineer-in-chief, BWSSB, said that the survey of properties is still on and all those who are not complying will gradually be penalised. However, when asked why meter readers had not penalised residents for lack of compliance, he said that they are busy trying to reach their daily target and cannot monitor rainwater harvesting units. “When we started penalising properties, only around 55,000 properties had RWH. The number has now increased to just over 72,000, which is good progress in less than a year,” said Kemparamaiah.
However, RWH experts working in the field are not buying this defence.
S Vishwanath of Rain Water Club said that BWSSB should take up RWH on a war footing and set a three-month deadline to achieve 100% compliance. “We should have carried out such a campaign before the monsoon,” he said adding that penalty alone will not result in compliance. “BWSSB engineers and meter readers should persuade property owners to adopt RWH,” he said.
Why residents don’t want to harvest rainwater
Residents prefer paying a penalty every month rather than invest in Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) as it is a cheaper option, say experts.
Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) penalty slabs are a function of the water tariff, already considered abysmally low. BWSSB imposes a penalty of 25% of the water bill for the first three months and 50% of the bill till the RWH is implemented for domestic connections. The penalty is double the amount (50% for 3 months and 100% for every month thereafter) for commercial connections.
The highest tariff for domestic connections works out to be ₹8/kilo litre in the city. “A single litre of mineral water costs almost double what is charged for 1,000 litres. The water bills are so low in the city that in many cases, even the 50% penalty goes unnoticed,” said S. Vishwanath of Rain Water Club.
Kemparamaiah, engineer-in-chief, BWSSB conceded that this is the case and that in many cases, the meter reader doesn't educate the property-owner of the penalties.
In most cases, even with a penalty of 50%, the water bill rarely exceeds the ₹1,000 mark for an average household. Now compare this with a capital investment of at least ₹10,000 to implement RWH, which is no incentive for taking this initiative. “The fine should be a flat ₹1,000 every month,” suggested Mr. Vishwanath.
A.R. Shivakumar, who designed the RWH programme for BWSSB and heads two help desks of the programme, said that unless water tariff is revised, consumers wouldn’t come to value the resource, and therefore will not give importance to RWH.
“The water tariff for industrial units is hefty at ₹72/kilo litre and the penalty is 100% of the water bill, which is already hefty. Hence, most industrial units have implemented RWH,” pointed out Mr. Vishwanath.
Rain Water Harvesting
Rule: All buildings on 30X40 ft plots or above have to implement RWH
In 2010, BWSSB threatens to disconnect water supply for non-compliance
Faces stiff opposition, no connection is cut
February 2016: BWSSB notifies penalty
Sets 3-month deadline
By end of May 2017
No. of properties that have to implement RWH: 1,39,049
No. of properties that have implemented RWH: 72,000
Compliance rate: 57.1%
Penalty
Domestic connections: 25% of bill for first 3 months and 50% of the bill till RWH is implemented
Commercial connections: 50% of bill for first 3 months and 100% of the bill till RWH is implemented
July 2016: BWSSB begins penalising
Penalty collected
Till date, BWSSB has collected ₹7.69 crore as penalty
Levied penalty on only 11,288 connections till May 2017
Water Tariff
Domestic: ₹8/kilo litre
Commercial: ₹72/kilo litre
