With a new government in place, just as the monsoon kicks in, Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) has decided to put forth one of its key demands from the citizens’ manifesto released before the polls: recharge wells for Bengaluru.
The group is planning to start a ‘10,000 recharge wells beku’ campaign to demand measures to ensure that another monsoon does not go wasted in the city.
Srinivas Alavilli from the CfB said the demand was to put these recharge wells in place over the next five years. “Rainwater harvesting is something every Bengalurean should take up as a personal mission as the city receives a lot of rain. Everyone knows that inundation leads to potholes. By digging up these wells, not only can we solve that problem, but also reduce our dependency on the Cauvery,” he said.
The group is planning a social audit of public places, such as parks and playgrounds, where pits can be dug up.
Vishwanath S., water activist and founder of the Rainwater Club, explained, “Bengaluru receives an average 970 mm rainfall annually, translating into roughly 3,000 million litres per day, as per the 1,250 sq.km of planned area of the city, including the green belt. As of now, only about 60 million litres per day are being harvested.” The city needs over a million pits. The advantages, said Mr. Vishwanath, are that flooding will diminish, groundwater table will improve, and trees in parks where pits are dug will do better.
Mayor R. Sampath Raj said the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had already started digging up percolation pits in parks, playgrounds and other such spaces for rainwater harvesting.
