New Mandate Stipulates Buildings in Bengaluru to Use Rainwater

In a move that would positively influence the development of eco-friendly homes, Karnataka might soon amend its existing laws to make optimal use of rainwater in its buildings. This would be a step closer to sustainable living amidst the growing environmental crisis. Besides, the real estate developers would have to comply with the fresh laws once they are in place. According to the proposed laws, all the buildings in the city should be harvesting rainwater.

The state will soon amend the BWSSB (Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board) Act. Under the new set of norms, it would be mandatory for all the buildings in the city to use rainwater. Therefore, the buildings have to be installed with a dual-pipe system. The cabinet has given a green signal to the bill amendment which paved the road to the enactment of the new law. Given that the state legislature’s budget session is going on, no official briefing was provided once the cabinet meeting was over.

This decision would reduce the dependency of the city on the Cauvery river. In this context, it is known that Bengaluru is located more than 3,000 feet above the sea level. It has over 1.2 crore citizens, who are presently dependent on the river for its water supply. With the laws making it mandatory for all the residential and commercial buildings in Bengaluru to harvest rainwater, the citizens would be dependent on groundwater and river water to a lesser extent.

People can store rainwater for use in washrooms and gardening. In this case, they would be able to judiciously use the river water for cooking and drinking purposes.

On the other hand, the government, while celebrating 'World Water Day', stepped into an agreement with ITV to build a watershed spanning 10 lakh acres. This project would come up in Karnataka in the next three years.