Bengaluru, Jul 29 (IANS): The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, in association with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has installed rooftop rainwater harvesting system in five villages to provide safe drinking water to the people, impacting more than 300 families.
Besides, the airport has also achieved a significant milestone of replenishing more water than it consumes.
In a six-minute video clip posted on the website of Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), it was revealed that more than 300 houses situated in Bandikodigehalli village and Anneshwara village, some 15 km from BIAL, were part of drought-prone areas for years.
"In association with IISc, BIAL has installed rooftop rainwater harvesting system in these villages, resulting in water saving of more than 1020 ML during the rainy season, besides recharging the ground water level," the clip claimed.
Meanwhile, BIAL MD and CEO, Hari Marar, said in a statement that this is a significant milestone for BIAL, which has been accomplished ahead of the World Nature Conservation Day on July 28.
He added that BIAL accomplished this feat by consuming water responsibly, and by reusing, recycling and replenishing the water bodies.
"At BIAL, the roadmap to achieving water positivity at the airport was carried out based on surveys, research and expert opinions. This led to reduced dependency on municipal water, enabling the conservation of thousands of litres of water, achieving water positivity in 2019, with a water positivity index of 1.37, as certified by DNV GL -- the world's leading classification society. As a result of its various water sustainability initiatives, the Bengaluru airport continues to remain water positive," Marar said.
He also said that BIAL has initiated a series of initiatives aimed at improving water resources by way of ground recharge, lake recharge and an integrated management of liquid and solid waste, thereby avoiding the contamination of groundwater.
"We first took step to set up a 2.5 million litre per day (MLD) capacity sewage treatment plant (STP) that was developed to recycle water. It is now used for landscape irrigation, ventilation and air conditioning and fire-fighting requirements. Besides this, with an aim to avoid water wastage within our campus, drains were built to direct excess water flow to the Bettakote lake, a sprawling water body adjacent to the airport," Marar said.