Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

33 states, UTs adopt rainwater harvesting system under MBBL 2016

August 6, 2021
Photo credit: gosmartbricks.com

As many as 33 states and union territories in the country have adopted rainwater harvesting (RWH) and water conservation measures as per the Unified Building Bye-Laws (UBBL) of Delhi, 2016, Model Building Bye-Laws (MBBL), 2016 and Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014, formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The measures have been adopted by the states and union territories suiting their local conditions.

As per the MBBL, “all buildings having a plot size of 100 sq.m. or more, while submitting the building plans for sanction, shall mandatorily include the complete proposal of rainwater harvesting”. Urban Development is a state subject, as such MoHUA does not conduct any survey in water harvesting.  It is for the states to implement the provisions under Building Bye-Laws.

It may be remembered that the ministry of jal shakti (MoJS) had launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019 to spread awareness on water conservation and undertake various activities related to RWH throughout the country. The MoHUA had actively participated in JSA through extensive information, education, and communication (IEC) activities on water conservation in water-stressed cities across the country. The activities promulgated for water conservation mainly included RWH, reuse of treated waste water, rejuvenation of water bodies, and intensive plantation drives for which detailed guidelines have been issued by the ministry.