Rainwater Harvesting at Malcolm Baug, Mumbai

In August 2006 , CERE in association with the Malcolm Baug Zorastrian Association, successfully completed a project to harvest rainwater at Malcolm Baug in Jogeshwari, Mumbai. Today 175 households of the residential colony are reaping the benefits of RWH as the usage of costly municipal water has been drastically reduced.

The objective of the project was to give a new life to an old, decrepit and large open well by repairing and resurfacing it, and cleaning out the debris and silt that was blocking the aquifers.

The project focused on
– Removing all the trees and shrubs growing on the walls of the well
– Plastering and reinforcing the well wall in phases
– Pumping out the dirty water to clean out the well
– Removing garbage, debris, silt and rocks from the floor of the well
– Fitting a chain link around the well, and
– Installing a 4,000 litres water storage tank

The well now collects rainwater which is pumped to the storage tank that supplies clean water for gardening and washing purposes to four buildings in Malcolm Baug.

“We wanted one baug or colony to show that rainwater harvesting was possible and that could serve as a model for us to document and show the way forward for the others to emulate and replicate.” – Dr. Rashneh Pardiwala, Director and co-founder of CERE.