Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Zoo to set up rainwater harvesting system

Staff Reporter

Move aimed at reducing dependence on piped water supplied by the KWA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In order to reduce its dependence on the water supplied to it by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), the city zoo has decided to set up its own rainwater harvesting mechanism.

The Kerala State Nirmithi Kendra has been asked to come up with a model suitable for the requirements of the zoo, said zoo director P.N. Unnikrishnan here on Tuesday. The city zoo is a major consumer of the KWA's piped water, guzzling up to seven lakh litres a day. According to Mr. Unnikrishnan, the zoo's water bill, calculated at domestic rates, runs into lakhs of rupees a month.

This, the zoo authorities feel, is not viable in the long run. Moreover, any disruption in the piped water supply owing to a pipe burst or leak causes the zoo officials to scramble for tankers to supply the requisite daily quota of water.

"The State Planning Board has sanctioned Rs.2 lakhs for setting up a rainwater harvesting mechanism. We hope to install one soon," Mr. Unnikrishnan said.

The zoo also plans to engage workers to clean its two lakes. Water from the lakes is used to clean the animal enclosures in the zoo. The zoo had undertaken a massive cleaning drive of its lakes a couple of years ago after the regional laboratory of the KWA, on May 31, 2003, reported finding high levels of coliform bacteria and iron in the lakes' water. The zoo had requested for such a test following large-scale death of fish in the lake in May 2003. Now, the cleaning operation will focus only on removing the weeds on the lakes' surface. After that the quality of the water will also be tested, Mr. Unnikrishnan added.

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