Mangaluru : The Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat has asked gram pachayats to ensure that all new houses and commercial buildings in villages have toilets and rainwater harvesting structures.

Proposing before the first general body meeting of the zilla panchayat, Deputy Secretary N.R. Umesh said that while granting building licence for a house, the gram panchayats should lay a condition that the house owner should build a toilet. In the same way, the owner of a commercial building coming up on a 2,000 sq ft area should be asked to build a rainwater harvesting structure on the premises. While granting door numbers, gram pachayats should ensure that toilets and rainwater harvesting structures are in place.

Chief Executive Officer P.I. Sreevidya said that lot of emphasis was being placed on recharging borewells and other activities for groundwater recharging. In 2015, 300 borewell recharging structures have come up in the district using the funds available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Many such structures have come up in Puttur and Belthangady.

Ms. Sreevidya said that training was being given to staff members of various departments about various groundwater recharging techniques that can be adopted. Non-government organisations were being roped in to create awareness among people about roof rainwater harvesting and creating small pits in their land that help recharge groundwater.

While lauding Ms. Sreevidya for the initiative, panchayat member Janardhana Gowda said that there was a need to get reports from the ground to see whether these groundwater recharging structures are actually put in place. Another member Sucharit Shetty said that pachayats should carry out a drive to recharge as many borewells as possible in their areas.