Rainwater harvesting to get a push

District deputy registrar Kiran Sonawane said though RWH has been made mandatory for buildings coming up in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC),many old housing societies do not have rainwater harvesting system in place.

“There are around 13,000 co-operative housing societies and we are targeting the old societies,which do not have the system in place,” he said.

Sonawane said they will push people to take up rainwater harvesting in a big way.

“The depletion of ground water level is a matter for grave concern. The only way to increase the water table is by recharging it,” he said.

After the study concludes,norms would be finalised to help societies set up rainwater harvesting system. Special workshops will be conducted in collaboration with NGOs and rainwater harvesting experts.

“As the requirement of every housing society is different,we will have to suggest different models for them,” he said.

Experts say that every 1,000 sq ft of constructed area can harvest 70,000 litres and every acre of open area can harvest 25 lakh litre during the rainy season. Going by this calculation,Pune city can harvest more than 1.75 lakh litres during the rainy season.