Port Blair, Feb. 9: 'Catch the Rain' initiative for rain water harvesting was launched by the Ministry of Jal Shakti with the tagline 'catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls’ to conserve rainwater. As part of this campaign, Raj Niwas, Port Blair has installed six Rainwater Harvesting Tanks (RWH), 3 of which have a capacity of 5 lakh litres each and with a total storage capacity of 15,28,000 litres. As per the prevailing charges of PBMC, the total storage capacity of water is equivalent to worth Rs. 3,89,640.00/-

The requirement of Raj Niwas complex can be fully met from the rainwater and the excess water of RWH Tanks is supplied to the APWD Water Treatment Plant, which is subsequently supplied to nearby areas after treatment. The RWH Tanks constantly get replenished and topped up, everytime it rains.

Water is the elixir of life and rainwater harvesting is the simplest and most affordable way to conserve water, improve soil moisture, raise groundwater table and to ensure the water availability in dry season.

Further, rainwater is absolutely without any impurities and safe for all types of use including drinking & cooking. Through rainwater harvesting, water is collected and stored rather than letting it go waste in the stormwater drains. This initiative by Raj Niwas will give further momentum to rainwater harvesting in A&N Islands, alongwith the now mandatory requirement of creating RWH capacity in all newly constructed building both in the PBMC areas, as also in the RD Sector.