Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Rainwater harvesting norms in cold storage

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even when the State is reeling under acute drinking water shortage, local self-government institutions are going slow in enforcing the provisions for rainwater harvesting in the Kerala Municipal Building Rules.

Town and Country Planning Department sources told The Hindu that rainwater harvesting was made mandatory for all buildings and provisions were incorporated in the KMBR since December 2004.

The rules specify that “workable rooftop rainwater harvesting arrangements shall be provided as an integral part of all new building constructions” unless otherwise specifically stipulated in a town planning scheme. This clause is applicable to buildings constructed for residential, educational, commercial and other purposes too.

Buildings with thatched roofs are exempted from the rules. It also says that the local bodies concerned should enforce workable artificial groundwater recharging arrangements as an integral part of all new buildings through collection of rooftop rainwater.

Exemptions can be granted in exceptional cases such as water-logging or impermeable subsoil conditions to considerable depths. The Local Administration Department issued the guidelines for enforcing the rule on March 17, 2004. The government had taken a cue from a system in vogue in Tamil Nadu.

Though the State is witnessing a boom in the construction sector, the civic chiefs have failed to impose the directive even though the local bodies hold the key in issuing all mandatory clearances for building construction. Since the government did not frame exclusive building rules for panchayats, the municipal building rules were extended to the rural areas too. There are complaints that the civic chiefs have not taken any serious effort to enforce the rules within their purview.

Drinking water shortage has already become acute in almost all areas in the five corporation limits, 53 municipalities as well as certain panchayats in the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi corporations, which are emerging as the hubs of IT industry in the State.

The Kerala Water Authority has already initiated punitive measures to prevent pilferage of drinking water but the civic chiefs are still issuing licences for residential and commercial complexes which do not have the facility for rainwater harvesting. Though not a total solution to the crisis, the enforcement of the rules would have at least eased the pressure on the KWA to meet the rising demand, but there is still no serious action from the civic bodies which should have taken the lead, sources said.

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