RWA of Green Park Main decided to undertake the project of cleaning the existing water harvesting pits of the colony this year which were probably cleaned many years ago. Thanks to Ramesh Chopra, who gave us an assurance of financial support for the whole project through his NGO, Public Welfare Foundation, and subsequent contributions from many other RWA members, we have been able to get this work completed in about 2 weeks’ time. We would also like to thank Aditi Chopra who gave us the contact person’s details for getting the work done.
There are 13 water harvesting pits in the colony as per the records. Except for one, we were able to locate all others with help from nearby residents. Except for one pit that a resident is maintaining, all others were inspected and cleaned, which turned out to be a huge job because of the amount of silt and mud and other stuff found in all the pits. One important aspect of a water harvesting pit for it to do its job is the presence of gravel, which was non-existent in all except for one pit, which did have a miniscule amount present.
In 2 cases nearby houses were found to be discharging their waste water into the pits and in one case a full-fledged ramp was found on the pit. These pits were cleaned and closed without putting the gravel into them. Gravel was put into the remaining 8 pits.
We hope for continued support from our members, so that a regular maintenance schedule can be made for all the pits in future. And more such pits can be made to prevent water logging and increase the water table.
