The Odisha government on Friday said that it has built over 10,000 rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS) across the state in 75 days to augment water conservation and groundwater recharge.
The Housing and Urban Development Department had launched a campaign on April 15 on the theme 'Catch the Rain: Where it Falls and When it Falls' in all the 114 urban local bodies.
The initiative has been taken under the flagship Mukta scheme, which provides wage employment opportunities for the poor and needy people staying in urban areas of the state.
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In a tweet, the Chief Minister's Office commended the department for the work, which has been executed through Mission Shakti Groups and Slum Dwellers Association.
The RWHS are cost-effective structures specially designed based on hydro-geological parameters prevailing in Odisha.
The structures are being constructed in parks, playgrounds, open spaces, and vacant lands inside the institutions available, depending on the technical feasibility and space availability.
The department said it had been able to construct 10,176 RWHS in 75 days, a step that would address the key challenge of water scarcity in urban areas of the state.
Encouraged by the success of the campaign, the H&UD Department has decided to construct an additional 10,000 RWHS, especially in the civic bodies of the western, northern and southern parts of the state where there is water scarcity.
Odisha, located on the eastern coast of India, is considered a water-surplus state, but rainfall distribution is uneven and erratic.