Namma Metro gets waterwise

After redefining the way Bangaloreans commute, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) wants to teach them a lesson or two in water harvesting.

Extending its plan to collect water from the tracks and pillars, BMRCL will soon start harvesting rainwater at all Namma Metro stations, beginning with the massive facility coming up at Peenya.

The BMRCL initially planned to harvest rainwater from piers, but once it started work along Reach 1 (Baiyappanahalli-MG Road), it realised that the scope for water harvesting was much more.
Sources claim the volume of water that the BMRCL will get from rainwater harvesting per year is huge.

“Assuming that we get about 850 mm of water a year in a two-lakh-square-feet area, we will be able to collect about eight crore litres of water a year,” said M Nagaraj of Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development (KRIDL), the agency that is involved in the project.

Peenya depot is located in an area of 140 acres, where the stabling shed occupies 1,90,000 sq feet. The water that is harvested from the pipes is collected in two recharge wells, each of which can hold 50,000 litres.

According to Nagaraj, the water-harvesting facility at Peenya depot is only a beginning.

“All stations, including the ones along Reach 1, will have rainwater harvesting facilities. The BMRCL will use water in places where it required to do so. The remaining water will be used to recharge groundwater,” he said.

Also, the BMRCL has plans to use rain-harvested water to make a profit. “We hope enterprises will come forward to harvest water, supply it in areas where it is required,” said UA Vasanth Rao, BMRCL general manager (finance). The corporation plans to complete water harvesting facilities by the end of this year, he said.

Toilets near stations
The BMRCL plans to construct public toilets near Metro stations where land is available.

“There is space at Baiyappanahalli, MG Road as well as SV Road stations and we will build public toilets there,” Rao said.