Odisha to set up 5,000 rainwater harvesting structures

BHUBANESWAR:  Odisha government has decided to construct 5,000 rainwater harvesting structures under the Urban Wage Employment Initiative (UWEI) in each ward of all 114 urban local bodies (ULBs) of the State.

With Mission Shakti groups engaged as implementing partners, the initiative will be taken up in a mission mode. All the 114 ULBs have been directed to immediately identify the open spaces like parks and playgrounds for construction of rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS) in the first phase.

A State-level task force headed by Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development department G Mathivathanan and city level core group led by Commissioner/Executive Officer have been constituted to oversee execution of the projects proposed to be created in next 2 months.

A capacity building programme was organised by the department on Friday to train engineers from the ULBs and development and planning authorities on low cost technological models. 

ULBs have been directed to immediately ensure issuance of work orders to Mission Shakti groups, sensitise them and start execution of work.

Dedicated PMU has been set up at department level to monitor and facilitate all UWEI activities. The ULBs have also been provided with required manpower to implement wage employment scheme.

Mathivathanan said targets will be fixed ward-wise and engineer-wise and their performance will be reviewed regularly by the State level task force. He said this is the first of a series of steps to be initiated to put in place a comprehensive water conservation model in all the urban areas.

He advised the ULB officials to ensure transparency and community participation while executing the projects. Every ward in small towns should have 5 to 10 RWHS and in municipal corporations, each ward should have 20 to 25 RWHS. The best performing ULBs and engineers will also be awarded.