Subhajit Mukherjee, a resident of the Mumbai’s Malad neighbourhood, came up with a remarkable invention: a low-cost rainwater harvesting and groundwater replenishment device. Subhajit created this model with the aid of engineers from IIT Bombay, drawing inspiration from the concept earlier offered by retired IPS officer and former governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi.
Mumbai is known for both its picturesque monsoon rains and its problematic waterlogging. But every year, millions of litres of water are dumped down the drains rather than being used to collect rainwater throughout the city.
PVC pipes and a water barrel/drum are used to construct Mukherjee’s economical method. To store the water that is dumped into it from the terrace, there is an underground pit involved. The pit aids in preserving and revitalising the neighbouring deep tube wells, ponds, and lakes as well as groundwater.
A rainwater harvesting system designed by Subhajit, who is also the founder of the city-based NGO Mission Green Mumbai, can store water for up to 10 days. You can use this for things other than drinking.
In order to set up this rainwater collection and groundwater recharge system in schools and private societies, he has been working with thousands of schoolchildren.