Amidst the prevailing water disaster, a household in Bengaluru is making waves by successfully addressing their water wants with out counting on a borewell or water from the Cauvery river. By utilizing rainwater collected and saved from the earlier 12 months’s monsoon, Rohit Malekar and Suma Raj are usually not solely beating the scorching summer season temperatures but additionally nurturing a flourishing backyard boasting over 350 vegetation.
In an period the place residents are coping with acute water shortage and blistering warmth, their family serves as a beacon of inspiration, providing helpful insights for different households going through comparable challenges.
Whereas insufficient rainfall in 2023 is blamed for exacerbating the current water disaster in Bengaluru, specialists imagine rainwater obtained within the metropolis (an annual common of 800 mm) ought to suffice to serve its water wants if correctly conserved by way of rainwater harvesting and recharging.
However regardless of rainwater harvesting being obligatory for big properties within the metropolis, Bengaluru drains away 90 p.c of its rainwater squandering a possible resolution for the water disaster that has been impacting the every day lives of its residents.
The vast majority of Bengaluru’s water necessities are at present met by way of the Cauvery river (60 p.c) and groundwater assets (40 p.c).
Let’s be taught extra about their water conservation efforts from Rohit and Suma.
Making each drop rely
Suma grew up in South Bengaluru, Karnataka, the place conservation and sustainable dwelling had been very a lot a part of her day-to-day life. Round 20 years again when groundwater recharging and photo voltaic panels weren’t obligatory, her father had a self-designed rainwater harvesting (RWH) setup put in of their house.
So, when Suma and Rohit determined to construct their dream house, they aspired to create an environmentally pleasant house too.
The couple was impressed by their son’s faculty, designed by Chitra Viswanath. They had been additionally impressed by The Higher India article that highlighted Chitra and her husband S Vishwanath’s work for sustainable properties. So Suma and Rohit determined to prioritise water conservation initiatives after they constructed their very own house in Royal Placid Format, Haralur.
Whereas their neighbours depend on drying borewells, Suma and Rohit opted for roof-based rainwater harvesting through the building of their 2,000 sq ft house in 2020.
“We learnt that even borewells as deep as 1,000 toes in our locality went dry over time. This was the rationale we selected to not drill a borewell. In addition to, we nonetheless rely upon water tankers because the Cauvery water provide is inadequate. This dependency will increase throughout summer season with the Cauvery water provide decreasing to one-fourth of its typical amount,” Rohit tells The Higher India.
So, the couple determined to reap rainwater for non-potable functions like cleansing, bathing, and gardening wants, apart from consuming and cooking. This ensures they’re unaffected by the depleting groundwater ranges.
Rainwater meets half of the household’s annual water wants. “Each monsoon, we save as much as 35,000 litres of rainwater. We use the harvested rainwater for cleansing and gardening functions. Whereas, we use the Cauvery water as soon as per week and tanker provide thrice a month for kitchen, bathing, dishes, and laundry functions, and water cans for consuming wants. We’re a household of 4 and rainwater takes care of half of our annual water wants,” he shares.
Sustaining backyard with 350 vegetation amid water disaster
Nearer to their rainwater harvesting tank, the couple has maintained a lush inexperienced backyard of 350 vegetation comprising decorative, flowering, succulents, handfuls of greens, herbs, and ayurvedic vegetation.
In addition to cleansing and different home functions, RWH tank water can be used to satisfy their gardening wants. The backyard requires about 150 to 175 litres of water every day.
“More often than not we draw water from the RWH tank to water these vegetation. Moreover, we manually re-purpose about 25 litres of water from the kitchen — leftovers from cooking and washing — for gardening,” he provides.
No matter the price range constraints, Suma and Rohit invested Rs 4.2 lakh in putting in the RWH setup, which required digging, masonry, waterproofing of the tank, and plumbing.
“There was by no means a time after I doubted investing Rs 4.5 lakh in RWH. We tried our greatest to construct a sustainable home with none specific expectation of return on funding to the extent we might afford it,” Suma tells The Higher India.
“Alongside this, we additionally invested in photo voltaic panels and compressed mud blocks for your entire home that supply the satisfaction of adopting barely sustainable selections. We additionally want utilizing buckets over showers for bathing. We even have aerators for a lot of the taps,” she provides.
Regardless of making efforts in direction of water conservation on the family degree, Rohit and Suma really feel they don’t seem to be doing sufficient. “Nonetheless, there’s a sense of reduction that we took steps in the correct course however way more will be executed. I imagine we’d like a plurality in options to deal with water shortage and RWH is a low-hanging fruit. I prefer it as a result of it’s decentralised, doesn’t have a single level of failure, and a few variations like groundwater recharging aren’t terribly costly,” says Rohit.
In keeping with him, lower than 20 p.c of the properties with water connections have applied rainwater harvesting; and fixing the water disaster in Bengaluru would require a number of options.
“Water conservation includes dedication and funding when it comes to cash, time, and actual property. Additionally, within the present fast-paced metropolis life, the place we rely so much on home assist to run day-to-day chores, it’s onerous to search out help employees who’re obliged to undertake comparable practices to assist preserve. Therefore, it’s simpler mentioned than executed,” he says.
“However what is required is to concentrate on the choices out there for decreasing environmental influence after which make an informed selection based mostly on private context, assets, and desires,” suggests Rohit.
Sources
Water famine in Bengaluru?: by A Ravindra for Deccan Herald, Printed on 11 March 2024.
Harvesting a success, however B’luru lets 90% of rainwater go waste: by Sneha Ramesh for Deccan Herald, Printed on 3 October 2023.
‘Bengaluru can change into worse than Cape City if mismanagement of water continues’: TV Ramachandra: by Sanath Prasad for The Indian Categorical, Printed on 4 April 2024.
Edited by Pranita Bhat.
In the event you discovered our tales insightful, informative, and even simply gratifying, we invite you to contemplate making a voluntary cost to help the work we do at The Higher India. Your contribution helps us proceed producing high quality content material that educates, conjures up, and drives optimistic change.
Select one of many cost choices under on your contribution-
By paying for the tales you worth, you instantly contribute to sustaining our efforts centered on making a distinction on the planet. Collectively, let’s make sure that impactful tales proceed to be informed and shared, enriching lives and communities alike.
Thanks on your help. Listed below are some ceaselessly requested questions you would possibly discover useful to know why you’re contributing?
