Pics: Ivan Mascarenhas/Edgar Cardoza
Daijiworld Media Network-Udupi (HB)

Udupi, Apr 5: In a laudable initiative towards conservation, a new rainwater harvesting unit set up at Mount Rosary Church premises here was inaugurated on Tuesday April 5. CEO of zilla panchayat Priyanka Mary Francis inaugurated the unit.

Addressing the gathering, Priyanka Francis said, "The district administration has planned to have 1000 such rainwater harvesting units in the district. This way, we can recharge the groundwater level too. The coastal area gets rainfall up to 3,500 mm-4000 mm annually. With the inauguration of this unit here, the message on the importance of rainwater harvesting will spread fast all over the district.

"The government funds people who wish to build rainwater harvest units under the NREGA scheme. It could be done for individual purpose or on a large scale like in farms, industries etc. Rainwater is a purer form of water than other any other. There is a unit constructed at Paduvari village in Kundapur and the people of that area use the stored water. Different kinds of rainwater harvesting models are available and people can opt for any one method as per their needs,” she informed.

Fr Philip Aranha, Mount Rosary Church, Santekatte presided over the programme. In his message, he said, "This is a good programme organized by Joseph Rebello. He and his team have done a commendable job. He has set a perfect example of how people should encourage environmental-friendly works."

Fr Reginald Pinto spoke about how to prevent wastage of water in one's daily life.

Resource person 'Jalayogi' N J Devaraj Reddy delivered a lecture on the importance of rainwater harvesting. "Earth is like a child. It will take only as much food as required for its age. Likewise, rainwater overflows at places without getting soaked into the earth. It gets wasted. So, these units help in holding excess flow of the rainwater, increasing the level in the underground water table. In Chitradurga, a village which barely receives 350mm-500mm of annual rainfall, the villagers get 24x7 supply of water. This was possible because they have installed many rainwater harvesting units," he explained.

"India is known for the maximum use of ground water in the world. There are four crore electric tube wells across the nation. There are 113 rivers in the nation, but some of the rivers have dried up due to lack of rainfall. People in the coastal area are facing problem of excess salt water content," he added.

Opposing the orders of closing the dead tube wells passed by the state government, he said, "It is wrong to do so. In Tamil Nadu people are recharging dead wells instead of capping the old ones."

Reddy presented an impressive power presentation to the students and the audience as well on the occasion.

Joseph, xoordinator of Social Development Commission at Mount Rosary Church Santhekatte, teamed with his 13 members, took initiative to bring the project into action in the church premises from the last six months. The team conducted various competitions and drawing competitions in order to develop awareness among children.

The guests distributed prizes to the students who won in these events.

Fr Mahesh D’souza, assistant parish priest released pamphlets on rainwater harvesting.

Richard Dias, secretary, Pushpa Kotian, president, Kallianpur gram panchayat, Hubert Lewis, zonal convenor, social development commissioner and parish pastoral council officials were present.

Jerri Vincent Dias vice-president welcomed the gathering. Alfred Carnelio delivered vote of thanks. Beena Pinto compered the programme.