Delhi Restores 730 Rainwater Harvesting Systems to Boost Groundwater Recharge
On Thursday, Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Verma announced that the Delhi government has completed the restoration of approximately 730 rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems across the city. Speaking at Thyagraj Stadium, where he inspected a newly restored system and reviewed the project's overall progress, Verma stated that these measures are crucial to ensuring that groundwater extraction in the capital is balanced by active groundwater recharge.
The ongoing work is part of a broader environmental initiative by the Delhi government to restore 1,000 existing rainwater harvesting systems and construct 500 new structures. These systems are being set up across various public facilities, including government offices, schools, hospitals, and stadiums.
According to Minister Verma, significant progress has already been achieved across these public institutions. Under the primary government plan, around 400 existing rainwater harvesting systems have been fully restored. Meanwhile, active restoration work is currently underway on more than 400 additional systems, bringing the combined total of completed and ongoing restoration projects to over 800.
Progress is also being made on the construction of brand-new rainwater harvesting structures. Against the government's target of 500 new systems, nearly 100 have been completed. More than 250 additional structures are currently under construction, with work advancing rapidly across various government departments.
In addition to these departmental efforts, the Delhi Jal Board has independently undertaken the restoration of 611 existing rainwater harvesting systems. The board has already completed 330 of these systems, with 120 currently in progress. Work on the remaining Delhi Jal Board sites will be addressed in upcoming phases.
To strengthen these conservation efforts, Verma added that the government is considering a proposal to make rainwater harvesting mandatory for all new borewell permissions across Delhi.
