The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu has entered world record books for establishing most number of roof top rain water harvesting ground water recharge ring well structures in shortest time. The DRDA has succeeded in setting up as many as 1465 ground Water Recharge structures at various Government Buildings in the district. This feat has earned the district a place in Elite World Records, Asian Records Academy, India Records Academy and Tamilan Book of Records.
According to District Collector K.Balasubramaniam, the DRDA took it upon itself to create more rooftop rain water harvesting ground water recharge structures to save rain water captured in the building roof tops and to recharge the same again as ground water through ring well structures. These structures were established in School Buildings, Government Buildings and panchayat buildings throughout the district which will enable to save the rain water from monsoon instead of letting it go waste as run off. Rainwater thus harvested from the roof top through down pipes will run through a filtration method and recharged to the ground through ring well structures. This project was initiated under the guidance and support of M.R.K.Panneerselvam, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and C.V.Ganesan,Honourable Minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development, Government of Tamil Nadu, further he added.
Pavankumar. G. Giriyappanavar, Additional Collector (DRDA) stated that the aim behind this massive project was to ensure ground water recharge foreseeing adequate water during the summer. We had a comprehensive Preparation at Block Level and Village Level. The locations were strategically identified and selected, it was determined to be non-clay soil, not in catchment and non-rocky. Rigorous Meetings and Workshops were conducted to the entire DRDA team in order to enlighten and instruct the process of constructing the structures. We had 5-levels of internal verification process to monitor the execution and progress of this project. Each Ring well structure has a capacity to recharge 146 litres of rain water per hour and on the whole the cumulative recharge capacity of all the structures are estimated to 55.50crore litres in one year, which will result in increase of ground water level upto 15 feet within a year. Each Structure was established at a cost of Rs.15,000.00 and the overall project is valued at Rs. 2.20 Crore, he added.
These rain water harvesting structures established will meet the ever increasing demand for water, it will enhance the ground water storage and control decline of water levels, it will reduce ground water pollution, it will improve the quality of ground water and it will also supplement domestic water requirement during summer. We appreciate DRDA for this massive project which is need for the hour, said Dr. SatyaSreeGupta, Adjudicator-Elite World Records.
The DRDA has adhered to all the norms and regulations set by us. After a stringent verification process, prominence check we qualified 1465 Units out of 1527 structures, said Ameet.K.Hingorani, Senior Adjudicator-Elite World Records.
Ring Wells played a pivotal role in ancient india as a source of water storage and ground water recharge as well. These structures installed at multiple locations in a short span is very much essential for ground water recharge, said Dr. A.K.Senthil Kkumar, Ambassador-Asian Records Academy.
In India Rainwater harvesting has been in practice for more than 4000 years. The First Indian State to make roof top rain water harvesting mandatory was Tamil Nadu in the year 2001. I am glad that this Visionary Project executed now will recharge a minimum of 55.50 crore liters of rain water to the ground every year. We are proud to certify this as a world record, said Dr. S. Yeshwanth Sai, Records Manager-India Records Academy.
I wholeheartedly appreciate the efforts of District Collector,Additional Collector, Executive Engineer and entire DRDA Team for their phenomenal efforts in achieving this task, said Dr.B.BalaSubramanian, Senior Records Manager-Tamilan Book of Records.
The DRDA Team have put their constant efforts for 7 days and made this project a successful one in such a record time, which will be an eternal asset to the district, this project has bagged lot of appreciation on the whole from the public as well.