Introduction:
The recent report on population by the United Nations Population Fund State of World Population has revealed the Indian population has reached the mark of 144 crores (1.44 Billion) and is estimated to double in the next 77 years. In the last census which was conducted in the year 2011, India’s population was 121 crores. Real estate has seen its boom post-COVID where an increase of 26% in prices can be tracked. Housing sales in the top 7 cities in the first quarter of 2023 was .14 lakh units, which is an increase of 99,500 units compared to the same period of the previous year. By looking at the current scenario of this industry, the largest construction companies like DLF and Mahindra Lifespaces even before constructing average residential spaces could be booked before the final construction of the building, the demand for housing in urban areas increased which made new constructions a gateway for people to find their ultimate homes. It is important to mention the possible scams in this sector, where the recent scam of “ Bharathi Lake View” collected advance worth 60 cr (3200 per sq. Feet), before the construction of the building the owners have not fulfilled the promises and floated away.
India is the largest consumer of underground water for its domestic and agricultural uses. A quarter of the world’s consumption of 251 bcm per year is consumed by this nation alone. The most populated country has to use water in such amounts to meet its population needs. Indian cities like Bengaluru have faced an acute shortage of water recently this year, similar was the case with Chennai which faced a water crisis in the year 2019. Hyderabad was the “City of Lakes” built on the banks of the Musi River, then had around 3000-7000 water bodies, which included man-made ponds, lakes and others. The recent report shows about 185-187 lakes left in the pocket. With the increase in population, it is obvious that the need for water would shoot up which the report depicts the same. With the decrease in lakes and an increase in population, there is a gap or a set of populations whose water is being taken away by the rest. There is always a water problem for some or others in the cities. With the least interest in saving rainwater and groundwater, people migrate to places that promise unlimited water supply or to places whose water levels are abundant and disturb the ecosystem of that area.
Housing is a necessity in today’s time in the same way to have a happy life we must have water and if we continue in this way we will be left with highrise buildings and luxurious homes abandoned and listed for selling at 1/10th of the price or for free. To maintain water levels positively it is necessary to adopt any of the techniques which would preserve the rainwater.
The Rainwater Harvesting:
There are many techniques to protect natural resources and one such technique is Rainwater Harvesting. The whole idea is to trap the rainwater and store it in a tank, rather than allowing them to get mixed with the sewage and later on get mixed with the ocean. Rainwater harvesting is the best possible way to reduce dependence on the municipality’s water supply. Using rainwater for washing cars, watering plants or using in washrooms, can reduce substantive usage of water.
The setup for Rainwater Harvesting is simple, the very first step is to trap the water generally referred to as a Catchment area, now as the water is trapped with us this has to be transported to storage units this process is referred to as the Collection system, where the downspout helps the water to reach to the storage units and the last and final step is to store the water in any storage tank places above the land or below. It is the wish of the person installing such a system to have a filter which helps discard the leaves and other dirt which might come along the water. Cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Delhi have faced acute water shortages for which people had to use more groundwater to satisfy their needs. It is high time that the people and government shall make efforts to trap the rain.
Legal Aspect:
The legal mention of rainwater harvesting is in various statutes such as the Constitution of India, Model Building Bye-laws 2016, APWALTA ACT 2002 or Telangana Water Land and Trees Act 2002, Press Information by Ministry of Jal Shakti dated 5th March 2020 “Law for Rainwater Harvesting”. States like Tamil Nadu have mandated rainwater harvesting for every new construction and cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune have mandated Rainwater Harvesting in their versions.
The law as per the Building Bye-Laws 2016 mentions that the provision for Rainwater harvesting is mandatory for every residential plot measuring above 100 sq.m as per the press notification by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. As water is a matter of State list it is upon states to have a dedicated law on Rainwater harvesting. Law as per WALTA ACT of 2002, section 17 mandates every residential, commercial and other premises and open space having an area not less than 200 square meters. As per the Building Bye-Laws Act 2016, all buildings having an area of 100 sq. m. or more shall mandatorily while submitting the building plan for sanction, shall mandatorily include the complete proposal of rainwater harvesting.
Model Building By-laws 2016, Chapter 9 has mentioned in detail rainwater harvesting, where it mentioned the techniques and potential areas which could harvest most of the water and the mandate of 100 sq. m. or more. The potential areas include parks, stadiums, playgrounds, sports complexes, public parking plazas and other public open spaces which would cover 50% of the total area.
The Constitution of India has mentioned protecting the natural environment like forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife, and having compassion for living creatures. The whole purpose of mentioning this in the first place was to protect the environment and when we look at the larger picture it is about saving every kind of natural resource. Rainwater is also a natural resource which we shall preserve for a better future, it shall be the responsibility of citizens to preserve water. The government can even start a water credits system for each citizen and compensate him/her accordingly, in the same way the government have started the ABC card ( Academic Bank of Credits).
New Legal approach:
Generally, the laws related to Water Harvesting apply to newly constructed buildings. In this case, the law shall apply retrospectively because now the states are not left with many areas and when we mandate newly constructed buildings, the whole purpose of saving water might not be achievable. The old-built areas may include Court complexes, Airports, Stadiums, Gated societies, Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, Fire department buildings and Police stations, which are built on large pieces of land and can contribute more to this mission. The rainwater harvesting structure is not like building another cellar or underground to an already constructed building. It is a process where changes in the pipeline of the building to get water to the storage unit and changes outside the building for creating a storage facility might occur, which is a small task as compared to making a cellar in an already constructed building. Hence adopting the techniques of rainwater harvesting shall be comfortable and shall only be an issue if there are any other constraints.
The boom in real estate has forced citizens to opt for apartments over personal homes as the land value is high and the cost of construction materials is also high, constructing a home for themselves is an investment of their lifetime savings which people generally cannot afford to. So, when we have more apartments being constructed as they accommodate more in less land, such types of structures would not be able much to our mission. But the townships which have plenty of such buildings can create a greater impact on our mission of capturing rain.
When higher authorities like Courts, Police departments, and Fire departments, adopt such practices they can set an example to the public which would encourage common people to adopt the same. Judicial buildings in the states like High courts and District courts generally have large vicinity and once all the judicial buildings adopt this technique together they can achieve a greater goal. Similar is the case with Schools, Colleges, Stadiums, Playgrounds, Parks and other public places.
As all of the above-mentioned categories occupy a large chunk of place the impact created by these departments is huge.
So the laws relating to rainwater harvesting shall be amended and made mandatory for already constructed buildings, including administrative buildings along with newly constructed buildings to achieve the ultimate goal of saving water.
Estimates of rain capturing:
According to the Model Building Bye-laws, a 100 square meters area of a rooftop is capable of harvesting 55,000 litres annually.
Courts in every District and High court in almost every capital city of the state have large premises and they can be a potential contributor to enhancing groundwater and adopting Rainwater harvesting techniques. The approximate area of The High Court for Telangana is around 14.432 acres or 58,407.06 square meters. According to the Model Building Bye-laws, a 100 square meters area of a rooftop is capable of harvesting 55,000 litres annually. If we do the math, around 3,21,23,883 litres approx ( 3 crores 21 lakhs 23 thousand and 883 approx) of water can be harvested by the Telangana High Court alone annually, as this is the total land area of the HC which includes areas without rooftops as well it shall not be an issue if we consider 60% of the same area as there are constructions in 60% of the land. 60% of 3 crores 21 lakhs 23 thousand and 883 is around 1,92,74,329.8 litres is captured alone by the HC for Telangana annually. The area of the TS HC has been calculated as per the Google Earth measurement tool, the actual area may vary. The point is to show the potential administrative and judicial buildings have to capture the rain.
Microsoft campus in Hyderabad is nestled amidst 54 sprawling acres when we convert the same into sq.mts it is around 2,18,530 sq. Mts., as per the Model Building Bye-laws 2016, a 100 square meters area of a rooftop is capable of harvesting 55,000 litres annually. When we do the math the entire area is capable of capturing water around 12,01,91,500 litres ( 12 crores 1 lakh 91 thousand and 500 ) of water approximately. As the rule specifically talks about the rooftop, and when we assume that this campus has a rooftop on 60% of the total area, the total amount of water that can be captured by this company is around 7,21,12,900 litres (7 crores 21 lakhs 12 thousand and 900) approximately.
Similar is the case with the New building of Rajasthan HC located in Jodhpur, Madhyapradesh HC located in Jabalpur and other HCs. This is not to be restricted to courts themselves the example of courts is taken as they have large premises all over India. Similar is the case with Schools and Colleges. Most likely, the rooftops of the abovementioned categories are used sparingly, which will help our mission more. Yet Rainwater harvesting doesn’t take much of the place.
IT company buildings or their campuses or Malls can also be potential contributors to this mission as they have large premises and are located in heavy-traffic areas or frequently travelled areas. The sewage systems of the majority of cities are not designed well to cope with the level of rainfall such cities generally receive and very often city drowns, these buildings can help capture rainwater and allow less water to enter streets and ease out people.
The long debate of soil erosion can also be solved by capturing water, as the amount of water flowing on land would be decreased as the above-mentioned structures will help in capturing the rainwater. Once less water starts flowing on the land the land will absorb the same slowly and prevent soil erosion, but in the case of large amounts of water flowing on the land, it would result in soil erosion. Though this is not the ultimate solution for avoiding soil erosion, it can help in reducing the same.
Conclusion:
We in India have rainfalls every year and the cities get flooded with the same rains, yet the same cities face drought and have to go through the water crisis every year. Now, in Delhi, there is a water crisis and the Himachal Pradesh govt to release the abundance of water the state has to help the capital city. Several cities face such a crisis and there is no Himachal Pradesh to save all of them. Before it’s too late the government shall make necessary changes to have water, to drink, to water trees, to wash our clothes and our utensils and ourselves and to construct buildings. It is important to make rules stricter and with tight boundaries. Any step of ours shall make its impact in forthcoming years.
Our mission shall be to increase the water levels in the state to increase the living standards, water levels, farm produce, less migration and a self-reliant state. Water is such a natural resource that it is invaluable but the most important thing one seeks to get during hard times. One needs to have water once he or she is done with their meal moreover to prepare the same meal we have to use water. The famous saying “ Water, water everywhere nowhere to drink” is a hard reality nobody wishes to face.
References:
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15. https://www.rainyfilters.com/about-us/blogs/rain-water-harvesting-in-india