BDA bid to harvest rainwater in Capital’s Biju Patnaik Park

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to regenerate fast-depleting groundwater and resolve issues of urban flooding, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has planned to launch Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) in Biju Patnaik Park.
Inviting online bids for the same from agencies to install RWH systems in the park at a cost of Rs 8.91 lakh, the BDA has set a 45-day time-frame to complete the work. The deadline for submission of bids is February 10.
“In view of regular flooding in the city, we have decided to implement RWH in one of our parks. Rapid urbanization has led to asphalted roads, pavers and footpaths that have reduced underground percolation of water. With the objective of preserving rainwater, we have planned to create small ponds to raise the park’s aesthetics,” a BDA official said.
Water harvesting in parks and open spaces involve micro-watershed management that allows rainwater infiltration and percolation into the ground. Moreover, storage of rainwater in small ponds is possible as ponds can be integrated with the park’s landscape.
BDA’s move to implement RWH in one of its parks has come against the backdrop of the civic authority asking building owners to set up RWH system within six months.
“Installation of groundwater harvesting structures has been made mandatory even for houses built without plan approval and houses built in deviation of approved plan. Non-compliance of the order will attract action under the provisions of Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003,” BDA, vice chairman Prem Chandra Chaudhary has said.
Welcoming the move, urban planners here said the initiative should extend to all small and large parks in the city that occupy large areas of vacant land. Notably, the BDA has 10 major parks which occupy over 5-acre land including Biju Patnaik Park, Indira Gandhi Park, Buddha Jayanti Park, Mahatma Gandhi Park, Kelucharan Mohapatra Park, Kharvel Park, Madhusudan Das Park, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Park, K8 Kalinga Nagar Park and Shyama Prasad Mukharjee Park.