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UNIT- 6

Q. Why is rainwater harvesting considered important ? Write about some of the

modern and traditional methods of rainwater harvesting.
Or

Write short notes on rain water harvesting.

Or

Classify the rainwater harvesting methods.

Or

Describe a case study of rain water harvesting in India.

Ans. Rainwater Harvesting :

Water forms the primary requirement to run every house hold activity. It is also
used for consumption by every living organism on this earth. One of the major problems
the world is facing today is water shortages. This generally happens whenever the given
water sources are wasted whether knowingly or unknowingly. Hence, by analyzing the
preciousness of water, the government of most of countries is taking precautionary
measures to save the water. For this purpose, rainwater harvesting is of primary
importance, which is a method to capture the rainwater during rains and storing that
water in containers or replenishing the underground water resource. The main aim
behind conserving rainwater is to utilize it in the seasons when water turns out to be
scarce. Hence rain water is harvested from top to the roofs, fields, parks, stormwater,
drains and by some means they are discharged in large closed tanks.
Hence, in this way it can be consumed in water scarcity seasons. But , in this
aspect, several issues should be deviced in to keep this water clean. This is because the
stored water is prone to growing several microscopic pollutants like algae, which may
pollute the water making it unhygienic for drinking. There is another major drawback
while implementing this mechanism (i.e.) it is extremely costly to build large hygienic
tanks. Hence, an alternative to this analog can be to make this water to be absorbed by
the ground, after collecting it on the roof of the building. This not only replenish the
groundwater level, but also causes this water to remain in wells throughout the year.
Apart from above mentioned strategies, there are other schemes which have been
successfully implemented in many rural areas of India in regard to rainwater harvesting.
Their names and description is tabulated below

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Name

Description

1. Saza Kuva

*Here the word saze refers to a partnet and Kuva refers to

well. Hence with this scheme, much of rain water is
harvested. The importance of this well is that, it can have
many partners who are an uthorize to share water from it.

2. Hembar

*Due to rainfall whenever water flows through a specific

region, a small temporary dam is constructed over it. These
dams are not constructed like normal dams, but certain stones,
mud add few other articles are the material used in
constructing Hembars.

3. Talab

*These are small lakes, which are confined to small local area.

4. Medhbandi

*In low lying areas, especially hilly areas where water rushes
out from one region to other, mud supplements get deposited
in these areas so as to utilize it for cultivation. These are very
useful in preventing soil erosion.

Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting:

1. Replenishes the underground water table.
2. The wells which get dried up, gets filled with water by method of rainwater
harvesting.
3. The rain water gets reutilized, hence we conserve water by following the practice
of harvesting rain water.
4. Water gets conserved without using any source of energy.
5. It is a simple technique of collecting which can be done by any person.
6. It does not require any preconditioned treatment like demineralization etc.
Case study:
Gujarat received scanty rainfall in the areas of Saurashtra. This decreased the
ground water stable levels drastically. Hence, an organization named Saurashtra Lok
Manch took various steps to deserve rainwater. This was done by the aid of farmers also
under the leadership of Shri Shyamji Antala. This organization recharged around
250,000 dry wells by conserving 690 crore gallons of rainwater. Hence, the participation
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of people actively can lead to conservation of rain water, thereby replenishing our water
resources.
Classification of Rainwater Harvesting methods:
Rainwater harvesting method is used for collecting and storing the rainwater from
rooftops and land surface to provide water for agriculture, industries and domestic use.
Once such method is to collect the maximum rain water possible and store in a proper
manner so as to avoid contamination from human, animals or the environment, prevent
algal growth and mosquito breeding.
A second method could be collecting rainwater from roof catchment system and
land surface catchment and directed to collection devices through conveyance or
conduits. The collection devices are cylindrical ferrocement tanks or battery tanks (i.e.,
interconnected tanks) made of pottery, ferrocement or polythene. The water stored in
these tanks may be used after the monsoon season.
A third method of rain water harvesting can be collecting the rainwater from tops
and directing it into the ground to recharge wells. Thus, the underground water table
rises which can be utilized for various purposes.
Case Study of Rainwater harvesting in India :
Rainwater harvesting is one of the most important and economical tools of water
conservation at a time of rapid dwindling of fresh water resources.
The Wipro technologies campus located in Electronic city, Hosur Road,
Karnataka, hosts about 7,000 employees and uses 500,00 liters of water every day. The
main source of water for this campus is distant borewells and tankers.
Several measures to implement the rainwater harvesting have been undertaken.
They include
i.

Construction of four sump tanks with total storage capacity of 3,50,000

liters for collection of rain water.

ii.

The rooftop rainwater is collected separately using a pipeline. The storm

water drain collect the surface water from the road and the paved areas.
Prior to storage of this water, undergoes filtration to remove the dirt,
grease and other impurities.
The rooftop rainwater is collected into 5000 liter sintext tanks (rainwater
barrels).
The advantages of these measures are,
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a. About 21,000 kiloliters of rainwater can be stored annually.

b. An open well of five feet diameter collects the water from
underground seepage.
c. The water collected from underground seepage can be reused, thus
reducing the demand for fresh water.

What is Environmental Impact Assessment?

Environmental Impact Assesment refers to both a decision making process and a

document that provides a systematic, reproducible, and interdisciplinary evaluation of the
potential physical, biological, cultural and socioeconomic effects of a proposed action
and its practical alternatives. Proposed actions may include projects, programs, policies
or plans. AS a decision making process, EIA provides a means for decision makers ot
better integrate environmental, social and economic conerns. It provides the opportunity
for all stakeholders in a proposed action, including the public, to participate in the
identification of issues of concern, practical alternatives, ant to identify opportunities to
avoid or mitigate adverse impacts. The process begins with a decision to proceed with
EIA, implementation of plans for public participation and stakeholder involvement,
documentation of purpose and need, scoping of important issues and interests in the
proposed action as well as its alternatives, development of baseline information on the
natural nad human environments, assessment of impacts and development of a decision
making document, and plan for mitigation of impacts. It can culminate in follow- up
monitoring and mechanishms to secure compliance with conditions for internationally,
particularly in the degree to which alternatives are assessed, the public involved, and
follw up considered to be part of the process.

Why is EIA Important?

By identifying potential alternatives and adverse impacts, nations can better achieve goals
for sustainable development, avoid or mitigate adverse environmental, social and cultural

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impacts, reduce costs, better plan for needed infrastructure and avoid loss of irretrievable
resources.

What are the components of an effective EIA Program?

There are seven basic components of an effective EIA Program:

1. The establishment by law of a substantive national environmental policy that

encompasses the concept of EIA.
2. The creation of EIA regulations are requirements that implement environmental
laws in ways that are systematic, rigorous, and practical.
3. The establishment of a regulatory system for preparing EIAs or for coordinating,
guiding and reviewing the preparation of EIAs by others.
4. The identification and clarification of organizational roles and responsibilities
within the general framework of EIA regulations and procedures.
5. The coordination of EIA preparation and review activities and decision-making
among government agencies, private developers, environmental consultants, and
the public.
6. The ongoing evaluation of the success of the program and holding program
personnel accountable for its success.
7. The encouragement of public participation in all aspects of the EIA Process.

What is the difference between an EIA and EIS (Environmental Impact Statement)?

Ans: An EIA can be both the document and decision-making process that provides a
systematic, reproducible and interdisciplinary evaluation of the potential effects of a
proposed action and its practical alternatives on the physical, biological, cultural, and
socioeconomic attributes of a particular geographic area. In the United States, though,
the actual document, is referred to as the Environmental Impact Statement or EIS.

What type of information is found in an EIA Report?

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Ans: There are 13 major components to an effective EIA report:

1. Cover Page
2. Summary of the proposed action the accurately describes the EIA report, stresses
final conclusions, areas of controversy, and issues to be resolved.
3. The establishment of a regulatory system for preparing EIAs or for coordinating,
guiding and reviewing the preparation of EIAs by others.
4. The identification and clarification of organizational roles and responsibilities
within the general framework of EIA regulations and procedures.
5. The coordination of EIA preparation and review activities and decision-making
among government agencies, private developers, environmental consultants, and
the public.
6. The ongoing evaluation of the success of the program and holding program
personnel accountable for its success.
7. The encouragement of public participation in all aspects of the EIA process.
8. A discussion of the environmental impacts of the various alternatives being
considered.
9. A listing of the written comments submitted by reviewing governmental agencies,
public and private organizations, and interested individuals, and comments
submitted in public hearings on the report. Responses to comments to the
comments should follow the comment directly, or reference the particular
comment requiring any specific response.
10. A list of the names and a summary of the professional qualifications of person
who were primarily responsible for the preparation of the EIA report or
significant background materials.
11. A list detailing the agencies, organizations and persons that have been sent copies
of the report.
12. An index or listing of the major components of the EIA report.
13. Appendices containing materials in connection with the EIA report that
substantiate analyses fundamental to the report, relate to the decisions made, and
that should be circulated with the report.

What is Scoping?

Ans Once a decision is made that EIA is necessary for a proposed action, a team is
assembled and the formal scoping process begins. This process usually includes
consultation within and between governmental departments and public and government
participation in one or more scoping meetings. The purpose of scoping is to identify
reasonable alternatives and issues and concerns related to the proposed action; provide
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early identification or areas (including data gathering and research) that will need
attention for evaluation of their significance; and facilitate consideration of alternatives
and mitigation. Scoping is an ongoing process, but it is most effective and useful when
begun early in the planning process.

Q What is Green Belt Development

Ans: INTRODUCTION
Green belt development has a special importance in hydro electric project as the project
construction process emanates lot of dust due to excavation works, crushing of material
and
batching of aggregates. In addition to, air pollution also takes place due to vehicular
movement
during construction and operation phases. Forest canopy has the inherent capacity to
absorb
pollution, increase water retention by soil and decrease sediment transport. In order to
combat
different kind of pollutions and avoid land slips from the portion of catchment draining
directly
into the reservoir, a green belt is usually developed along project site and around the
reservoir.

DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN BELT

The green belt is proposed to be developed within the project area at the following places
viz., dam site, power house site and around the periphery of reservoir. Different kinds of
strategies will be necessary for developing green belt around different components of the
project.
The general considerations involved while developing the green belt are:
- Generally local/native fast growing trees should be planted around various project
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appurtenances of the proposed project.

- Planting of trees should be undertaken in appropriate encircling rows around the project
site.
- Generally local/indigenous fast growing trees should be planted.
The trees should be protected by plantation of non palatable shrub species to avoid
browsing by animals.
- The Plantation should be at a spacing of 2.5 x 2.5 m and about 1600 trees per hectare
should be planted.

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