Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage (MWS&D), Sri Lanka and Colombo based NGO, Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum (LRWHF) organised a three day training programme in Colombo on ‘Urban Rainwater Harvesting’ for Srilankan government officials between 27th and 29th April, 2011.
The BIS agrees that there is a need to regulate the use of phthalates in toys. The BIS stated this in a response to the Bombay High Court on Feb 24th 2011.
The Bombay High Court directed the Bureau of Indian Standards on March 24,2011 to set standards on phthalates in toys within two months. The court also directed the Ministry of Commerce, once the BIS sets standards, to issue a notification mandating the phthalates standards in toys.
A committee formed to test toxicity of heavy metals and phthalates in toys will begin their investigation soon.
Minister of state for agriculture, consumer affairs, food and public distribution, Prof K V Thomas in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on CSE’s report also stated that the European Union had banned the export of honey from India, on account of positive detection of heavy metals and other contaminants, reported in the Residual Monitoring Plan.
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Once you have installed a RWH system it is a good idea to also set a system for monitoring. How much water you are catching How much of this you are using How much you are recharging This will help you to provide concrete evidence of the impact of rainwater harvesting If the data is positive it will help to catalyse other people to follow in your footsteps.
1. What is RWH and why should I do it? It simply means catching and holding rain where it falls and using it. You can store it in tanks or you can use it to recharge groundwater. Doing RWH has the following benefits: Meet household water needs especially during periods of scarcity. Rainwater is the purest form of water that doesn’t contain impurities like fluoride, arsenic, etc.
How much will it cost to catch rain?When community come together to harvest rain, the per-capita investment goes down. For instance, Panchsheel Park Colony about 1000 residents pooled in Rs 4.5 lakh to harvest more than 170 million litres of water annually.
The national capital territory, (NCT), of Delhi receives 611 mm of rainfall on an average annually and the number of rainy days are as low as 20-30.