The Hindu : New Delhi News : JNU to harvest rainwater

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 17, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

JNU to harvest rainwater

Staff Reporter

Schemes include identification of best recharge locations

NEW DELHI: Taking the first step forward towards conserving and recharging the water table, Jawaharlal Nehru University's Environment Committee is working on a series of schemes to ensure that the growing water shortage problem in the city does not hit the campus.

Schemes proposed and being executed to ensure a healthy and growing water table include identification of best recharge locations on the campus using the Global Positioning System, identification of suitable locations for deep tube wells, rejuvenation of the JNU lake located close to the east gate and documentation of natural resources available in the area and assessment of the conditions they are in.

Speaking about the scheme, Environment Committee member Saumitra Mukherjee said: "We are working on some important aspects of water conservation for short-term as well as long-term benefits of the JNU community. The work is important to keep the water table healthy and strong enough to support the green in the area. We are working towards identification of suitable locations for deep tube well construction."

So far four locations have been shown to the Engineering Branch of JNU and work will start at two locations this month. Field work is in progress for selection of 11 other sites within JNU for boring deep tube wells so that in future there will be no problem of drinking water on the campus.

"We are keeping strict vigil to see that the wells are drilled in the exact locations at the prescribed depth with suitable drilling machines. After successful drilling we will install plants to filter the deep tube well water and supply it to hostels and residential areas after quality check," he added.

Another important project the Environment Committee is working on is rejuvenation of the JNU lake. "While preliminary scientific investigation is over, the lake basement has developed some fractures. A detailed investigation will be carried out in the coming weeks to understand the locations from where the rainwater is going out of the campus. Help is also sought from Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage for the process," said an Environment Committee member.

The Environment Committee is also looking into cleaning of the existing check dam reservoirs within JNU. "We have attempted to manually clean the reservoir, but found that it was risky for labourers because broken glasses and bottles with other garbage are deposited in the silt. We have taken written permission of the Rector to clean the reservoir by JCB machine; the work will be done soon. Work is also under way to set up rooftop rainwater harvesting and the site will be selected using geophysical instruments. And while 50 per cent of the work is done, the rest will be completed in April," said Dr. Mukherjee.

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