To be prepared for the monsoons next year, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has identified about 300 water harvesting pits in the city that need to be made functional again. These pits will help recharge depleting groundwater levels and prevent waterlogging.
This and more was discussed at a water conservation meet held yesterday in Sector 34 between MCG officials and environmental NGOs Paryavaran Prerna and Gurugram Action Plan.
The two NGOs are assisting the civic body in the project.
The pits are located in villages, in HUDA colonies, in colonies in the process of being transferred to MCG, and in areas that are already under MCG.
About 180 of the 300 pits identified are currently non-functional, while the ones that are working are fraught with problems.
A harvesting pit needs to be at least 200 ft deep, but some of the existing ones are just 30-40 ft deep, officials said.
“Till last year, MCG was not aware of the location of rainwater harvesting pits. This year, we cleaned up about 70 per cent of the pits we had identified, and as a result, waterlogging was minimal this year,” said V Umashankar, MCG commissioner.
MCG officials are exploring the option of making engineering changes to the pits to increase their capacity. They are also looking at constructing new pits.
