Hiranandani calls for rainwater harvesting
The ASSOCHAM has expressed concern about Karnataka Government’s move to clamp a five-year ban building of apartments due to water crisis, citing its impact on the construction industry.
ASSOCHAM Sr Vice President, Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, noted the State Government’s likely action on new apartments as Bengaluru faced water shortage.
Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister Dr G Parameshwara has said that the state government is seriously considering clamping a five-year ban on granting permissions for construction of apartments.
There were several developers going ahead with construction and sale of apartments without making adequate arrangements for a basic necessity like drinking water, he noted.
But Dr Hiranandani said “This step would be detrimental for both the construction industry and the consumers as a whole.
“We believe that it is a very drastic step for the construction industry and the concerned stakeholders. Just because of a few bad apples, the entire community is been wrongly punished.
“If the state government goes ahead with its plans, there would be an artificial scarcity of houses which would result in the jacking up of prices.
“The government should work on alternative solutions to make water available via replenishing methodology and reusable solutions,” Hiranandani, CMD of Hiranandani Group, said on 2 July 2019.
He further added that there are hundreds of people directly and indirectly dependent on construction for their livelihood as it is the second largest employment generating industry.
“Banning construction would render all those people jobless adding further woes to unemployment. The government needs to take all that into consideration before taking the drastic measure,” he stressed.
The state government should consider the best alternative method of water conservation by rainwater harvesting in monsoons and recycle through sewage treatment plant.
This recycled water shall be of use for secondary purpose like washing, flushing, gardening and construction which will help in reducing the dependency on ground portable water by nearly 30%.
“This shall be helpful in salvaging the water crisis prevailing in the city,” he said.
Hiranandani also called for retrofitting of rainwater harvest and sewage treatment plant at the real estate projects as an ideal solution to conserve rainwater in abundance.
The Municipal corporation should make it mandatory to incorporate these plants at the planning stage for better treatment and solutions. These corrective measures will help the Tech city from rebooting water system, he said. fiinews.com
