CS told to convene meet on rainwater harvesting

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi chief secretary to convene a meeting of all deputy commissioners for installation of rainwater harvesting systems in residential and commercial buildings on plots of 100 square metres and above within a month.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed all the deputy commissioners to ensure that rainwater harvesting systems are duly installed in every building and ensure that an effective mechanism is put in place.

"The chief secretary of Delhi may convene a meeting of all deputy commissioners on the focused issue of implementation of the guidelines for installation of rainwater harvesting systems in all the buildings where the area is more than 100 square metres, within one month from Wednesday.

"The steps already taken or proposed to be taken may be discussed in the said meeting so as to make the installation of rainwater harvesting system a reality on the ground. After the systems are installed, the same must be maintained and remain effective. Effective monitoring mechanism may be put in place in a suitable manner," the bench, also comprising justices Jawad Rahim and R.S. Rathore, said in an order passed on Tuesday.

The NGT also directed the chief secretary to file an affidavit on the issue within two months. During the hearing, the Dehi Jal Board told the NGT that inspections have been carried out at various locations for installation of rainwater harvesting systems and wherever inspection has not been done, "the same will be carried out forthwith".

The direction came while disposing a 2013 plea by environmentalist V.K. Tongad, who had sought directions to the DMRC to "install rainwater harvesting system" on all its existing, proposed and under-construction metro stations, tracks and depots.

The NGT had widened the ambit of the petition and incorporated various other institutions such as hospitals, hotels and malls. It had earlier slapped fines on four real estate developers after it was found that rainwater harvesting system insta-lled on their premises weren’t functional.

The NGT had imposed an environment compensation of Rs 3 lakh each on builders after perusing the inspection report filed by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

Taking to task several hospitals, malls and hotels here for not complying with its orders on rainwater harvesting, the green panel had earlier imposed fines and issued warrants for not installing these systems.

D14