Raj Bhavan leads the way in rainwater harvesting

Just as the Cauvery water dispute began taking the centrestage in Karnataka politics, the Centre for Science and Environment’s Media Resource Centre organised a two-day media workshop on "Making  Water Everybody’s Business" in Bangalore on October 7 and 8, 2002. Water became an animated talking point and a subject for intense debate for the 25 participating journalists.

The journalists from the four southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu heard a panel of eminent water experts argue in favour of rainwater harvesting. Their message: rainwater harvesting is a powerful, people-friendly technology that holds the power to reverse the water woes of the region and the country as a whole. And also, that it is futile to fight over river waters. A simple solution to address the water crisis is to harvest rain. Catch water where it falls.

S Vishwanath of Bangalore’s Rainwater Club stressed the need to invest in this wonder technology to solve the country’s current water crisis. "We need to dispel notions that the problem is water scarcity. The real threat is water mismanagement," he argued.

Participating journalists outside the Raj Bhavan

K P Somiah,programme officer, MYRADA, said, "the true success of rainwater harvesting as a technology lies in making people the strategic resource rather than the problem.

" Madan Gopal, executive director of the Jal Samwardhane Yojana Sangha, maintained, "community water management has in it as much strength as it did in the earlier days when people had control over their natural resources."

Bangalore’s spectacular Raj Bhavan initiatives in rainwater harvesting convinced the journalists of the merits of this technology and its ability to provide long-term solutions. Denso Kirloskar Industries Pvt Ltd’s efforts to harvest rain in their complex spoke of the emerging trend in the industry to factor in environmental costs.The visit was organised by S Vishwanath of Bangalore’s Rainwater Club