Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh): Despite the Centre and state governments issuing advisories from time to time, the responsible departments have turned a deaf ear to the mandatory implementation of rainwater harvesting systems in government buildings. An investigation by our teamr has revealed that in the past year, the construction of government buildings in Bastar district has been carried out without installing rainwater harvesting systems.

The administration and municipal corporations are not reviewing the implementation of these systems, and as a result, rainwater is being wasted every year. This year will be no different. The question is, what is the status of rainwater harvesting systems in new constructions? Are they functioning, or are they non-existent? The lack of review and monitoring is leading to carelessness in implementing these systems during construction.

In the district, the MP and MLA funds have built community buildings, but it is not known how many of these buildings have functional rainwater harvesting systems. The planning and statistics department has now sought reports from municipal corporations, municipalities, gram panchayats, and public works departments, asking them to inspect the rainwater harvesting systems in community buildings and submit a report within 15 days. The report should include live photos and videos of the systems.

The departments responsible for implementing rainwater harvesting systems have been silent on the matter. The question is, how will they submit their reports when they have never been reviewed properly before? The department has asked for reports from agencies and is also gathering data on other constructions.

Rainwater harvesting has been mandatory in all government constructions since 2018. Therefore, the government is now seeking information on the implementation of these systems to assess the seriousness of the agencies involved. The information received will reveal where these systems are not functioning or where there are difficulties. The agencies will then be instructed to repair or improve the systems so that rainwater can be utilized to improve groundwater levels.

The continuous depletion of groundwater levels makes it essential to harvest rainwater. Rainwater can be a game-changer in controlling the excessive exploitation of groundwater due to borewell digging. The government agencies have been asked to take the lead in this initiative, but when government agencies themselves are negligent, it is difficult to expect others to take the initiative.