Rain water harvesting must for commercial units in rural KTKA:

The Karnataka government is mulling over making it compulsory for commercial buildings in rural areas to implement rain water harvesting as part of its effort to build a water secure future for the state, Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said Saturday.

"Commercial buildings in rural Karnataka like factories, warehouses, buildings, we are trying to make rainwater harvesting compulsory for them.

We are examining it legally also. We will issue a circular regarding this to get it implemented compulsorily," Gowda said.

Currently such mandate making rain water harvesting compulsory exist for the areas that come under urban local bodies and not for rural parts.

Referring to buildings constructed by Panchayat Raj Engineering divisions like schools, colleges, angavadi buildings, hospital buildings, Gowda said "We are changing the model estimates, making it mandatory to include rain water recharge in the building estimate, and an order to this effect will be issued on June 11."
"We will also revive 14,000 small water bodies, and will take advantage of NREGS to create assets at an investment of Rs 500 crore."