Now, Wankhede pitches to harvest rainwater

‘‘In a city that is struggling with its drinking water needs, it was felt that we needed a one-time solution for the water shortage at Wankhede,’’ said MCA vice-president and former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar.

‘‘Then we chanced upon the option of rainwater harvesting. We felt the Wankhede could use such a solution.’’

The stadium is a huge catchment area for collecting rainwater during the monsoon which is normally drained out to sea. But water collected through harvesting could be pumped back for use on the ground. The MCA has already received a proposal for a rainwater harvesting system that is likely to cost about Rs 8 lakh.

‘‘We are awaiting a few more presentations before taking any decision,’’ says former Test opener and MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput. ‘‘We are also exploring the possibility of having a borewell.’’ A borewell would cost the MCA just Rs 30-40,000 but the water drawn could be saline, requiring a desalination plant.

The Anderi Sports Complex (ASC), which switched to rainwater harvesting seven years ago, today has a carpet green surface. Small wonder then that one of the people approached by the MCA was the man who set up their system, Shrikant Godbole, an assistant engineer with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and resident engineer at ASC.

‘‘From a catchment of 30,000 litres initially, today the Andheri Sports Complex has close to three lakh litres — more than we can consume,’’ says Godbole. ‘‘So, I don’t see any reason why the same levels of success cannot be achieved at the Wankhede,’’ he says.