Odisha unveils Rs 100 crore scheme for rain water harvesting

The Odisha government today unveiled a Rs 100 crore Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting Scheme in its bid to conserve water, official sources said.
A decision in this regard was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.
The scheme would be implemented in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Titlagarh, Jharsuguda and Brajrajnagar towns in the first phase.
"The government will encourage rainwater harvesting on the rooftops of both the government and private buildings. The government will also help the persons interested in such projects with financial assistance," said water resources secretary P K Jena.
16,955 buildings comprising 16,405 private buildings and 550 government buildings would be covered under the RRWHS, Jena said adding the scheme which was started in the 2014-15 fiscal would continue till 2018-19 fiscal during which Rs 100 crore would be spent.

Under the scheme, the unemployed diploma or graduate engineers in the discipline of agriculture, civil, environment,
mechanical engineering or graduates in geology would be invited by the Ground Water Survey and Investigation to undergo short-term training on the RRHS.
After training, Jena said, they would be treated as Roof Water Harvesting Consultants and would be empanelled. These consultants would create public awareness, provide technical guidance and support for execution of RRHS in private buildings.