Rainwater harvesting systems have been installed in more than 1,000 buildings across the city. Of them, the system is functional in 90% of the buildings, said the town planning department of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC).
While the system is not functional in around 100 buildings. NMC officials said they will launch an inspection drive in July to ensure that the rainwater harvesting systems installed in the remaining 10% of buildings are also functional. The civic body has warned of monetary action against buildings where the system is found to be defunct.
The municipal corporation has just introduced a 5% rebate in property tax to the buildings having rainwater systems from the current financial year, but they will get concessions only if the system is functional. Officials said a team of officials from the town planning department will inspect the rainwater harvesting systems of the buildings before giving a 5% rebate in property tax. Moreover, it has also decided to honour those buildings that are effectively implementing the system.
NMC has also started initiatives to encourage people to use rainwater harvesting systems to increase the ground level in the city. As per norms, a rainwater harvesting system is mandatory in buildings on plots measuring 500 sqmt or more. But the civic body wants all small and large buildings to adopt the system.
Earlier, in 2019, the civic administration had conducted a drive and found over 60 buildings where the rainwater harvesting system was found to be defunct. NMC had slapped fines of Rs 1,000 on each such building. Next year, the civic body could not undertake such a drive due to the Covid pandemic. But the civic body has decided to inspect the rainwater harvesting system on all the buildings again.