S Lalitha By Express News Service BENGALURU: In a bid to ensure that all new buildings in the city mandatorily install rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures within their premises at the time of construction itself, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has asked the BBMP to include RWH under its building by-laws. In order to implement RWH, the water board had earlier proposed doubling of fines for building owners for non-compliance. This is another step in that direction. “The process of amending the RWH Act to ensure that roof-top harvesting and dual pipelines are fitted inside homes measuring 60x40ft to better utilise the stored rainwater has begun, but it will take some time. However, in order to make the public immediately adopt RWH in their houses, we have asked the BBMP to incorporate it in their building by-laws. It is expected to be approved at the BBMP’s next council meeting,” BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath told The New Indian Express. Another proposal by the BWSSB related to RWH that is pending approval from the government is that of doubling of fines for non-installation of RWH structures. BC Gangadhar, chief engineer (maintenance), said levying of penalty began from August 2016. “At present, the water board earns up to Rs 3 crore per month as penalty collected from building owners not abiding by the RWH regulations. A total of 1,21,372 houses have installed them while 65,000 houses have not. If the proposal to double the fine is okayed, then BWSSB will earn up to Rs 6 crore per month only through fines,” he said. The penalty being levied runs as follows: 25% of the monthly water bill in case of domestic connections for the first three months of non-compliance and 50% of the bill for commercial establishments. If it goes beyond three months, the fine amount is 50% of the bill for domestic consumers and 100% for commercial consumers. “When the proposal to hike it (the penalty) comes through, the penalty for domestic consumers will be 50% of water bill for the first three months and then 100% for the subsequent months. For non-domestic users, it will be 100% initially and then 200% after three months,” he added. On the reasons behind non-compliance, Gangadhar said that space constraints within home or office premises was cited as the major reason. “The reluctance to invest a one-time sum ranging between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 for installing RWH structures is another aspect. Hence, many owners prefer to pay a smaller fine amount every month,” he said.

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