Prayagraj: With groundwater levels declining steadily, Prayagraj has begun a determined push to revive its aquifers by creating rainwater harvesting banks across the city.The initiative is being implemented under the Union govt’s AMRUT Bharat Mission 2.0, aiming to scientifically recharge groundwater in areas witnessing excessive extraction. In the initial stage, officials mapped 30 potential locations for installing rainwater harvesting systems. After technical surveys and feasibility checks, this list was reduced to 13. From these, 10 will be finalised for the installation of the systems. Once the final selection is completed, work on setting up the infrastructure will begin. Officials of the Jalkal department said the shortlisted sites were chosen to ensure that the benefits of groundwater recharge reach a large section of the city. According to them, the selected areas are those where groundwater usage is significantly high, making them ideal points for recharge interventions. Each rainwater harvesting unit is expected to cost around Rs 5 lakh. The shortlisted locations include CMP College, Hindu Hostel, Municipal Corporation premises, the Jhunsi well area, Chandrashekhar Azad Park, Saraswati Vidya Mandir in Vinoba Nagar Naini, Ramlila Park in PDA Colony A Block Naini, Kulbhaskar Ashram Agriculture College, Ramkatha Park Sector 5 Transport Nagar, ITI campus Naini, the District Magistrate’s residence, the Divisional Commissioner’s residence, and Khusro Bagh. The groundwork for this plan was laid during a workshop organised in Oct last year at the municipal corporation by the National Institute of Urban Affairs. Experts from different fields then stressed the urgent need for structured rainwater harvesting to improve the city’s groundwater health. Acting on those recommendations, the civic authorities have now moved towards implementing a practical and location-specific solution to restore the falling groundwater table in Prayagraj.
