Over 21,700 buildings in Tiruchy city served notice for lack of rainwater harvesting system

TIRUCHY: As many as 21,767 building owners were over the past few weeks issued notice by the city Corporation for not having rainwater harvesting (RWH) system installed on their premises. Similarly, notices were served on 5,054 property owners for non-maintenance of a functional RWH system as part of the civic body’s inspection drive.

With officials stating that efforts taken by the civic body have ensured RWH system in most buildings in the city, a senior Corporation official said, “At present, 2,00,312 residential buildings in the city are having functional RWH systems. Similarly, 17,822 commercial buildings also have RWH that are functional. Our team is conducting regular inspections to ensure that all the buildings have functional RWH.”

Mentioning it to be mandatory for all buildings to have RWH, and pointing to action being taken regularly on those not maintaining it, a Corporation official said, “In the past few weeks, we had served notice on 21,767 building owners for not having RWH. Similarly, notices were served on 5,054 owners for not taking steps to maintain a functional RWH system in their buildings.”

Sources said the Corporation has also reminded those government departments not maintaining RWH. “About 60 percent of the government buildings in the city have RWH. We have asked the remaining departments to take steps to establish it,” a source said.

Meanwhile, residents suggested that the Corporation also hold workshops on RWH. “Before Covid, they used to conduct many workshops on home composting and rainwater harvesting. But nowadays, the Corporation is not conducting them. Those events were very helpful for identifying affordable RWH and home composting methods. Therefore, apart from taking action on those not maintaining RWH, they should organise workshops on RWH to guide those looking for affordable systems to ensure groundwater recharging,” said Sukanya Krishnamurthy of Srirangam.