Coimbatore Corporation on Saturday cracked the whip on buildings without rainwater harvesting structures by disconnecting water supply to a building on Palakkad Main Road in Kuniamuthur. Assistant Commissioner A. Amalraj said that as per the orders of the Commissioner G. Latha, he had disconnected the water supply after the building owner had failed to install rainwater harvesting structure, though the Corporation had asked him to do so.
The civic body first issued notice to the building owner, Nandhakumar, a month ago asking him to install rainwater harvesting structure at the commercial complex he owned. The time frame given was a week. During subsequent checks it came to light that the owner had not initiated measures to harvest rain water. After a couple of warnings, the civic body decided to crack the whip.
Meanwhile, in the remaining four zones, the Corporation had issued notices asking the owners to install RWH structures in a week’s time. In the East Zone, the Corporation had issued notices to owners of more than 700 buildings. In the Central Zone, to around 800 buildings and in the West Zone the number of notices issued was 1,200.
Senior officials in the Corporation said that by next week, the Corporation would go ahead and disconnect water supply to more buildings because the owners had not taken seriously the notices issued to them. They need to understand that the Corporation was serious about it and that it meant business as far as the installation of rainwater harvesting structures went.
Welcoming the move, R. Raveendran of the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore, said that the Corporation disconnecting water supply to the building was the right step and the move would send unambiguous message to those who had installed the structures.
For those building owners who were keen on putting in place the RWH structures but were clueless how to proceed, the RAAC had published zone-wise a list engineers and architects were willing to offer their expertise. The list would be available on RAAC and Siruthuli and also Corporation websites by Monday. By calling those engineers or architects, the building owners could get estimates and have the structures installed, he added.
