Rain water harvesting campaign started in Delhi, 500 new rain water harvesting systems will be installed in government buildings.

New Delhi. With an aim to improve the groundwater level before the monsoon, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has launched a massive rain water harvesting campaign. Under this campaign, the Jal Board has been entrusted with the responsibility as the nodal agency. In the first phase of the scheme, 500 new rain water harvesting systems will be installed in government buildings. With this, about 1000 systems already existing but lying inactive will be reactivated.

This campaign will be run in the buildings of all other government departments including Corporation, PWD, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, Directorate of Education. The Water Board has clarified that coordinated work will be done to strengthen the rain water harvesting system in all these institutions. It is noteworthy that in the capital Delhi, it has been made mandatory to install rain water harvesting system on plots of 100 square meters or larger since 2001. After the implementation of this policy, thousands of rain water harvesting structures were also installed in the city. However, over time many of these systems became inoperable due to lack of adequate maintenance and regular upkeep.

As per the current situation, out of total 9,148 government buildings in the capital, about 7,596 buildings have rain water harvesting systems installed. According to Delhi Jal Board, special emphasis is now being given to make all these existing systems fully functional and effective, so that maximum harvesting of rain water can be done in the upcoming monsoon and groundwater recharge is improved.

Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said that the initial expenditure of this project will be borne by DJB itself, which will later be recovered from the concerned departments. He informed that the tender process for all the works is being started immediately and the works will be allotted by the first week of June 2026. The first phase of the campaign is targeted to be completed by June 30, to ensure maximum preparedness before the upcoming monsoon. Under this scheme, existing rain water harvesting systems in government buildings of Delhi will be activated and repaired, as well as defunct structures will be reactivated.