NEW DELHI: Delhi Jal Board has tweaked its policy of issuing completion certificates to ensure mass implementation of rainwater harvesting in the city.
Rainwater harvesting service providers and consultants have been given the power to certify completion of RWH system installations and this is likely to make the process easier for consumers who are required to incorporate rainwater conservation in their construction plans.
For the ease of the public at large, it has been decided that the consultants or service providers can also issue the completion and adequacy certificates subject to the urban development guidelines, says the order issued by DJB chief executive officer Udit Prakash. The state government has issued a set of guidelines for issuing the certificates of completion.
However, while the completion certificates may be issued, the RWH systems will be scrutinised on a random basis by the water utility's RWH Cell. Deficiencies despite the issue of completion report and adequacy certificates will invite forfeiture of the amount of Rs 10,000 deposited during registration.
To make the process stricter, any institution working as consultants but found to be defaulting will be blacklisted by DJB.
With the aim to increase the water resources it can draw upon, Delhi government is pushing for more people to adopt the rainwater conservation method to solve the city's mounting water crisis, which sees a shortfall of around 400 million gallons of drinking water every day.
In order to boost water production, apart from rainwater harvesting, the government is also working on conserving the Yamuna's floodwater during the monsoon season.
In February, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal cleared the construction of two catchment reservoirs along the river to store the monsoon runoff. While one reservoir will be created on a 460-acre land on the western bank of the Yamuna north of the Wazirabad reservoir, a smaller 20-acre reservoir will be built slightly away from the Yamuna but within its catchment area.
