Highrise buildings in Jamshedpur will soon have the eco-friendly system

Jamshedpur, March 28: That day is not far off when all highrise buildings in the city will have provisions for rainwater harvesting.

A directive from the district administration has made it mandatory for promoters and builders in Jamshedpur to include rainwater harvesting facilities in their ongoing construction projects.

Concerned over the receding water-table in the city due to mushrooming of multi-storeyed buildings in the past couple of years, deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum Sunil Kumar Burnwal had issued directives earlier this month to all the three civic oorganisations ? Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Mango Notified Area Committee and Jugsalai Municipality ? asking them to ensure that the building plans submitted by real-estate developers are passed only if they have provisions for rainwater harvesting.

Promoters in the city are making a beeline for consultancy firms for implementation of the eco- friendly system. Banani Halder, an official of Vijaya Home Makers Private Limited, said: ?We have appointed a Patna-based agency for assistance in implementation of the rainwater harvesting facility at our new project site at Ramninagar in Baridih. We are also exploring possibilities of installing the facility on the roof-tops of our previous housing complexes in Sonari, Kadma and Mango,? he said.

Vikas Singh, promoter of KK Awas Private Limited, said the company is consulting a government agency for implementation of the rainwater harvesting system in all its building projects in the city. ?Installing the system will cost Rs 1 lakh. So the corresponding increase in cost of flats will range from two to three per cent, which will not affect clients,? he added.

Sources in the district administration said barring a few promoters, a majority of them do not include provisions for rainwater harvesting in their building plans, even though it mandatory under the Municipal Act, 1991.

In the past, several promoters have acquired sanction for their building plans from the civic authorities by showing provisions for rainwater harvesting. But while constructing the building they fail to implement the system.

Special officer of JNAC Jagdish Yadav said the directive of the deputy commissioner will be strictly enforced. He added that on an average JNAC receives about three building plans in a week. However, ever since the district administration issued the directive on water harvesting, the civic organisation has not received a single plan. ?The builders who were thinking of submiting their building plans have now decided to include provisions for rainwater harvesting,? said Yadav.

The issue of rainwater harvesting came up for discussion at the district urban development authority meeting on March 23. Burnwal had asked the special officers of the three civic organisations to ensure that all highrise buildings, including schools, should have provisions for rainwater harvesting.