Rainwater Harvesting at the Armed Police H.Q., Naigaon

CERE has completed phase 1 of a project to help the Mumbai Police become more environmentally conscious and self-sufficient by conserving water and harvesting rainwater. This project serves as an example of how a community can reduce its environmental footprint and embark on a path of sustainable development.

This project was sponsored by Indostar Capital Finance Ltd. and has been implemented at the Armed Police H.Q., Naigaon.

The precinct comprises of police administrative buildings, residential colonies housing over 2,300 families, independent canteens and mess, police station offices and 3 large training/parade/sports grounds with a sports complex. The entire area suffers from severe water shortage and municipal water supply is restricted to less than 15 minutes each day. The area has both open wells and bore wells but most are dry and inoperative. The severe water scarcity problem had to be urgently addressed by developing a long-term, permanent solution: Rainwater Harvesting.

Phase 1: Rainwater Harvesting: The Rainwater Harvesting component of the project was completed and inaugurated on 3 Oct, 2017. The project involved the excavation of 1150 m³ of deep trenches to serve as percolation pits along the periphery of the open grounds. These pits help recharge the ground water table so as to rejuvenate dry open wells and bore wells. Nine dysfunctional bore wells were entirely repaired and rejuvenated as part of the project. Today, the project helps supply the precinct with an additional 38.8 million litres of harvested rainwater.

An important component of the project was the education and awareness building of the resident police community. CERE conducted a series of workshops for police personnel, children and residents on water conservation and rainwater harvesting, to create a sense of participation and ownership of the entire initiative.

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Phase 2: Create Natural Reed Bed System to Treat Wastewater: A long-term solution to water scarcity is to recycle grey water from the kitchen. This project component involves treating a part of the grey water from the police residential colonies through an effective and natural Reed Bed System and using the clean treated water to maintain the open grounds. Therefore, this intervention will help (a) conserve potable water for watering open grounds, (b) recharge the ground water table, and (c) reduce wastage of water. CERE is currently looking for funding for this phase of the project.