Rainwater harvesting in Guwahati city

At a time when artificial floods during rains wreak havoc in Guwahati, when many places in the city are facing acute water crisis and the groundwater level in many places is receding, focus should now be given on rainwater harvesting.
Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) scientist Biman Baruah, while talking to The Sentinel, said: “The average annual rainfall in Guwahati is 1,600 mm. Rainwater harvesting projects can be successfully implemented in the city. A few people have taken to rainwater harvesting in their homes but such projects have not been taken up at a larger scale. High-rise apartments are coming up in the city but they are yet to implement rainwater harvesting projects. Many builders come to us for information but things do not proceed beyond that.”
He further said, “In 2007, ASTEC had put up two rainwater harvesting models on display at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra and the Science Museum at Khanapara in order to popularize the concept of rainwater harvesting among people. In the same year such a project was successfully launched at the State Bank of India (SBI) zonal office at Dispur. We need to popularize the concept further. ASTEC has sent a proposal to the Directorate of Science and Technology, Government of India, for implementing a rooftop rainwater harvesting project at ASTEC Vigyan Bhavan and for imparting training to officials of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and teachers of schools, colleges and universities on rainwater harvesting.”
Baruah added, “Rampant exploitation of groundwater resources by installation of deep tubewells should be stopped and rainwater harvesting is an economical option to solve the city’s water crisis. All one needs is a water tank, sand bed filter and water pipes. In a State like Karnataka which receives average annual rainfall of 1,163 mm, the concept of rainwater harvesting has really picked on. But this concept is still in a nascent stage in Guwahati and Assam as a whole where the average annual rainfall is 1,780-3,050 mm.”