‘Catch the Rain’ project by erecting 605 roof-top rain water harvesting (RWH) structures in 21 days, to envisage rainwater reuse has given a lot of faith and confidence to government school students
The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu has set up as many as 605 roof-top rain water harvesting structures on 1,108 buildings in just a span of 21 days. In spite of heavy rainfall, the district administration managed to complete the project successfully and now the feat has earned the district a place in Elite World Records, Asian Records Academy, India Records Academy and Tamilan Book of Records.
According to District Collector Dr S Visagan, with a sincere commitment to enable immediate use of rainwater and to improve the groundwater potential before the onset of monsoons in Tamil Nadu, they decided to create roof-top rain water harvesting structures in 14 Blocks of the district.
The aim behind the initiative was to preserve rainwater at government schools and public buildings for immediate use. In this context, a brainstorming session was conducted for the DRDA team and all stakeholders, which led to the idea of constructing roof-top rain water harvesting structures.
Started with the guidance of I Periyasamy, Honourable Minister for Co-operation, Government of Tamil Nadu and R Sakkarapani, Honourable Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Tamil Nadu, the scheme soon caught the attention of many as the work progressed with daily monitoring, he further pointed out.
C Dinesh Kumar, Additional Collector (DRDA) added that a district like Dindigul in Tamil Nadu faces severe water inadequacy for domestic use and agriculture during summer every year, hence it was decided to initiate a project to visualize rainwater harvesting which will ensure storage of adequate water for domestic use immediately. “After a devising session, we decided that the creation of roof-top rain water harvesting structures at multiple locations in government schools and public buildings of the district will give a permanent solution to this.”
We had a detailed Micro-level planning at Block and village level for identifying the apt locations for constructing the structures, the sites were strategically selected at all locations which support rainwater usage at toilets and envisages recharge of groundwater as well. Rigorous meetings and workshops were conducted to the entire DRDA team and all stakeholders in order to educate and impart the process of construction. “We had a three-level internal verification process to monitor the progress, quality check and construction,” further pointed out C. Dinesh Kumar, Additional Collector(DRDA).
“Catch the Rain” project by erecting 605 roof-top rain water harvesting structures in 21 days, to envisage rainwater reuse has given a lot of faith and confidence to government school students. “We are pleased to certify this project as a new world record,” said Ameet K Hingorani, Senior Adjudicator, Elite World Records.
“I along with nine more ratifying officers physically inspected 353 structures out of 611 and based on the norms, 605 were considered for the world record. Each structure had a minimum capacity of 9000 litres and a maximum of 22000 litres. These structures had gutters, downpipe for the flow of water, had collection chambers, and then it involved filtration media and the filtered rainwater was diverted to a sump and the excess water from the sump was diverted to soak pit as recharge unit, from the sump the rainwater was pumped to overhead tanks for use immediately,” said Dr A K Senthil Kumar, Ambassador and Senior Adjudicator, Asian Records Academy.
He added, “We are happy that most of the structures installed were done as concrete structures. The district administration has adhered to all the norms and regulations set by us. I am sure this project has given an everlasting livelihood for school students.”
This visionary project executed by DRDA Dindigul district will be an everlasting asset to the school students and government establishments. “We are proud to certify this as a world record,” said P. Jeganathan, Associate Editor and Senior Records Manager, India Records Academy.
“This project has created awareness of the importance of rain water harvesting and attracted public participation,” said Dr B Bala Subramanian, Senior Records Manager, Tamilan Book of Records.
On behalf of the district administration, world record titles were conferred to District Collector and Additional Collector. On the whole, this project has gained a lot of appreciation notes from the public because these structures can save more than 10 crore litres of rainwater in a year.
