Thaindian News

Shimla, March 22 (IANS) Though the Himachal Pradesh government recently made it mandatory for buildings to have rainwater harvesting structures, the far-sighted British engineers adopted this technique in Shimla more than 130 years ago - which works to this day.

Rainwater harvesting wells constructed in the British-era Viceregal Lodge that now houses the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS), a premier advanced research institution in the field of humanities and social sciences, are still working.

“The lawns and gardens of the IIAS are still watered from four huge underground tanks in which the rainwater from the main building rooftop is collected. The tanks were cleaned from time to time to remove silt to retain their optimum capacity,” said IIAS’ public relations officer A.K. Sharma.

“The only problem now is that during summer, the tanks are almost empty due to insufficient rain. The system installed by the British to channelise the rainwater is still in a perfect condition though,” he added.

However, to tackle acute water shortage in Hamirpur district, the district administration managed to restore most of the traditional water sources with the help of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) of the central government.

The administration last year rejuvenated 666 traditional water sources that helped to check the acute water problem in 229 gram panchayats.

The revived water bodies have directly benefited 38,145 families in the district.

Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Jairam Thakur said: “Such a project would also be replicated in other districts of the state as most traditional water channels have either dried up or are lying unused.”

“This would greatly help in solving drinking water problems, especially in areas on low hills,” he added.

He said recharging the water bodies would also help in checking groundwater depletion.