The Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit stressed the need for Residents Welfare Associations to take up Rain Water Harvesting Schemes in their respective areas as a means of overcoming water scarcity.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Rain Water Harvesting Scheme at Panch Shila Cooperative House Building Society under the Bhagidari scheme at Panchshila Park, Dikshit announced that the Deputy Secretary in her office would personally coordinate on the site to ensure better coordination among the various Government agencies involved in implementing rain water harvesting, solid waste disposal, composting and other activities aimed at improving the environment.

The Chief Minister said RWAs can also play an important role in helping its members increase the personal power load capacity in residential connections as there has been instances of load allocation not being in consonance with the actual requirment.

At the same time, she also appealed to members of the various RWAs to help in identifying those who were involved in illegal power and water withdrawal, while conserving water and power on their part to check the shortfall.

The gathering was informed that as part of the Rain Water Harvesting Project, about 20.19 lakhs litres would be harvested in Panchshila Club and Panchshila Park, 2.24 lakh litres in Panchshila Montessori School and 1.83 lakh litres in Panchshila Public School, at a total cost of about Rs 1.15 lakhs.

Besides, the society has also become a model in solid waste disposal project as the bio-degradable waste like kitchen garbage and horticultural waste will be composted into manure; and recyclable waste like tins and bottles will be segregated; and non-recyclable waste would be discharged separately. Thus about 800 kg of waste would be collected every day that would not go into the landfill.

The society would also be hiring the services of Naya Savera to keep the roads and other main areas clean. The organisation would also collect kitchen, horticultural and other wastes by cycle-rickshaws on a door-to-door basis on all days except Sundays at Rs 25 per month.

Besides, it would also clean toilets of residents at Rs 25 per toilet, clean sewer lines on a case to case basis, collect malba and dispose it at a designated site at Rs 250 per cycle- rickshaw load and buy all other wastes as kabaris do at market rates, thus ensuring uniformity and professionalism in cleanliness and disposal of garbage.