Malkajgiri residents do their bit to conserve rainwater

​Hyderabad: The State government seems to be leaving no stone unturned to bail out its citizens from water crisis in the city as it has taken up construction of rainwater harvesting pits.

Besides constructing rainwater harvesting pits, the government has initiated programmes for educating people about the importance of rainwater harvesting pits to increase groundwater levels. Accordingly, the government has constructed nearly 200 water harvesting pits in places which come under Malkajgiri constituency.

To collect more water during rains, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had dug up pits at selected places where there are slopes so that rainwater flows and enter into the harvesting pit.

Officials said pits were dug to a depth of 12 feet and filled with gravels and sand so that more quantity of water could be absorbed. They further said each pit cost about Rs 20,000 to set up. Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board Malkajgiri constituency Deputy General Manager Rajini said they started working on rainwater harvesting pit from February and had constructed around 200 pits in the Malkajgiri constituency alone.

“We have taken up the rainwater harvesting pit works in the month of February and will be completing the work by the end of this month,” Rajini said.

Taking a cue from the government, the residents in the area have also started setting up the pits in their houses to charge their bore-wells.

A resident of Alwal, Saraswathi, said they had faced severe water problem as their bore-well dried up. She was hopeful that water harvesting pits could come handy during water crisis. She lauded the civic body for taking up the initiative to save water.

For providing water to the park in the colony, a Defence employee, DN Rao, set up three harvesting pits with his own interest using gravels, sand and charcoal.

“There are two harvesting pits outside the house and one inside. Once the water level reaches its capacity, it overflows into the big pit set up by the GHMC. From there water flows into the garden,” he said.

A resident of Trimulgherry, Uma Kumari, said each pit required three days to construct, as there was a systemic procedure to be followed. She further said the government conducted programmes to educate people about the importance of having rainwater harvesting pits at homes.

By: Chitra Saikumar