The Hindu 03.08.2009
‘Adopt rainwater harvesting’
Special Correspondent
| School administration, experts call for action as situation appears grim |
Photo: R. Eswarraj 
Learning experience: Students at an awareness programme on rainwater harvesting at Lourdes Central School in Mangalore. —
MANGALORE: Symbolic suggestions on the need to harvest rainwater seemed to have cut ice with the audience rather than speeches, at a session at Lourdes Central School here on Saturday.
A video of a middle-aged man’s umbrella flying away and an elderly man using it as a bucket to collect rainwater, dozens of men and women emulating him; another man using his helmet to do so as he walks in the rain; a youngster storing water in gumboots and finally a boy choosing to directly collecting water in his mouth and swallowing it, impressed parents and students.
Decennial celebrated
The occasion was to mark the decennial of the school which was celebrated with the school unveiling its rainwater harvesting (RWH) apparatus. While the school will collect rainwater from its roof, it will use water collected from the nearby church to recharge its ground around a borewell, school principal Grace Naronha said. The school has spent Rs. 70,000 on the project and has involved students of class 10 and 11 in it. The students have been given the responsibility of spreading awareness about rainwater harvesting. A couple of them gave a multimedia presentation on the subject on the occasion and answered questions from other students. J.R. Lobo, Deputy Project Director of the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environmental Management Project (KUDCEMP) said Mangalore had faced severe water scarcity in the past. When he was Commissioner of the Mangalore City Corporation, it had to purify saline water and pump it to Mangalore from the Thumbe Dam.
He urged parents to harvest rainwater and use it for everyday purposes. Water supplied by the corporation should be used drinking, he added.
He asked them to immediately repair all leaking taps, and close taps as and when not in use.
“Every drop of water has a cost,” he told them, reminding them that water was a scarce commodity. Pointing out that 97 per cent of the water on the planet was saline, 79 per cent was in the form of icebergs, and only 20 per cent was underground. Thus only one per cent of the non-saline water was available for human consumption and it had to be used judiciously. A crisis was already at hand, he added.
Appeal
Parent convener of the school Ivan Monteiro urged Mayor Shankar Bhat to make RWH compulsory in Mangalore, beginning with government buildings. The corporation could offer incentives such as reduced water charges for families that opted for RWH. He also demanded setting up of a rain centre to disseminate information on RWH and promote it. He wanted plumbers to be given training in setting up of RWH apparatus.
School students presented a mime that ended with the message, “Save water or else nobody can save you.”
