KMC to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in big housing complexes

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is set to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in big housing complexes, in a bid to conserve water. The civic authorities are contemplating to change the Building Rules and incorporate the new provision, Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Monday.

Hakim visited the chamber of Director General (Building) Anindya Karfarma and spoke to the senior officials of the department in a bid to improve work culture in KMC. He was accompanied by the Municipal Commissioner Khalil Ahmed.

In order to reduce the harassment of people, KMC is planning to bring the Block Land and Land Reforms Office (BLLRO) and Building department under one roof.

The civic body is accepting building plans online and in cases where conversion of land has taken place, the owners have to get clearance from the BLLRO, which often takes a lot of time. If the Building department and BLLRO work together, it will prevent the harassment of the owner of the land.

Hakim said rainwater harvesting in big housing complexes will be done as a move to save ground water. The rainwater will be used for cleaning, flushing and gardening. The ground water level has drastically fallen in several parts in the city. It may be recalled here that the Chennai Municipal Corporation (CMC) has made rainwater harvesting in big apartment blocks and housing complexes mandatory two decades ago.

Hakim had earlier proposed to set up special zones to wash vehicles in order to save wastage of drinking water.

The state government has taken special measures to save water. July 12 will be observed as Save Water Day every year. The state Public Health Engineering (PHE) department had organised a walk from Jorasanko Thakurbari to Gandhiji's statue at Mayo Road on July 12, in which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took part.

The state Panchayat and Rural Development department has also instructed all the Gram Panchayats not to rampantly lift ground water and prepare schemes for rainwater harvesting in the rural areas.