Catch the Rain
आओ बारिश पकड़े
Empowering communities to harness rainwater for daily household use and replenishing groundwater.
Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Slums
India, home to 16% of the world's population, holds only 4% of the world's freshwater resources. With rapid urbanization, this scarcity is becoming more pronounced.
Unplanned urbanization has turned cities into heat islands, exacerbating the water crisis. The widespread concretization increases surface water evaporation, leading to a higher dependency on groundwater and raising potable water consumption. This situation particularly impacts the poor, women, and children, who struggle with limited and irregular water supply, often receiving water only a few hours a day or a few days a week.
- According to a WWF report, by 2050, cities like Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar could face grave water risks as urban populations are projected to increase dramatically.
- In June 2022, National Green Tribunal (NGT) has also highlighted Punjab's alarming groundwater depletion, estimating that the state has only 17 years of groundwater left.
Water is the source of life and must be accessible to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic background. Yet, continuous water supply remains a distant dream for many families in India’s rapidly growing cities. Our solution aims to bridge this gap by harnessing the natural resource of rainwater.
Our Approach
To address the critical water supply shortage, we launched a rainwater harvesting initiative targeting underprivileged families in urban slums. This program not only tackles groundwater depletion but also educates communities on the benefits and implementation of rainwater harvesting. By installing rainwater harvesting systems in homes, families can collect, purify, and store rainwater for daily use, while excess water is redirected to replenish groundwater levels.
A Transformative Journey:
- Community Awareness: We begin by educating underprivileged families about the importance of rainwater harvesting and how it can directly improve their access to water.
- System Installation: The initiative involves the installation of rainwater harvesting systems in urban slum households. These systems collect and purify rainwater, ensuring a clean and reliable water source.
- Groundwater Replenishment: The excess rainwater is directed back into the ground, helping to replenish depleting groundwater levels, thereby addressing the broader water crisis.
Reap, Recharge, Replicate Our rainwater harvesting program is guided by three principles: reaping solutions for water-scarce communities, recharging depleting groundwater levels, and replicating projects through cost optimization.
Education & Sustainability Hand in Hand Across many of our programs—e.g. Anganwadis and other community spaces—we integrate sustainability elements like rainwater harvesting. This approach is crucial in creating more holistic projects and targeted designs.
The Impact Goes Far - What Eyes Can't See The first pilot project's implementation revealed surprising impacts on the beneficiary family. Their daily lives saw significant positive changes—from no longer struggling to wake up early and queue for water, to washing clothes more frequently, leading to improved hygiene.
Impact to date
15K+
Rain Water (Lt.) Harvested
200+
Stakeholders Engaged Through Awareness
2
Projects Implemented