Source

NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 26, 2003: With a current population of 14 million and growing by at least 500,000 each year, New Delhi’s need for water has become paramount. If current rates of water consumption continue, conservationists predict that groundwater will be depleted by 2020. In an effort to find a solution, municipal water authorities are encouraging everyone to participate in rainwater harvesting, an elegant but simple practice rooted in the traditions of ancient India. Rainwater harvesting involves channeling water from rooftops or storm drains into sand-lined underground boxes called soak pits. Water that would otherwise run off through storm sewers then percolates through the soil, replenishing natural aquifers several hundred feet below the surface. Krishan Saigal, a former official at a United Nations-funded environment agency, heads a resident’s association in Panchshila Park where they have tried rainwater harvesting. Mr. Saigal says, “The project has been so successful that the water table has risen three feet in less than a year. I would never have believed it, but it works.”

Post Views: 231