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R HEART U O Y S E H C T H AT T O U Y L I A D G IN AN INSPIR Vol. 1 No. 29 Pages 16 PUNE, WEDNESDAY MAY 23, 2012 Rs.4 WEATHER Sunrise .....................05:59 Sunset ......................19:04 Moonrise .................07:40 Moonset ..................21:06 Temperature Min ...........................22 0c Max ...........................38 0c
TRAVEL!
A ‘YOUNG’ VISION
AYUBOWAN SRI LANKA
What if you could travel through time? >> P6
Meet a corporator who dons many hats >> P9
Explore the land of beaches and fun >>P15
Siddhivinayak Ginger Society
Rainwater harvesting FAQ
rainharvests! Why fret over water tankers that overprice? Take lessons from Siddhivinayak Ginger Society which installed the rainwater-harvesting plant at an affordable cost
Milind Kale, member of the Siddhivinayak Ginger Housing Society helping to install the rain-harvesting equipment. It costed the Society only one lakh rupees
SUCHISMITA PAI
C
ome summer and it is the same story every year—water cuts, Water tankers and all the issues that come along. Is the water enough? Is it clean? Is there a better way to do it? The residents of Siddhivinayak Ginger society in Pimpale Saudagar have found a better way to do it. And the best part is they have done it at half the cost of what a professional rain-water harvesting consultant would have. “It was just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question that we put to the
residents at the recent general body meeting,” says Milind Kale, a member of the society’s Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) Committee. “Do you want to do rainwater harvesting or not? There was no discussion till this was decided upon. We also decided that we would collect just Rs 500 from each flat owner, that too only once the project is implemented. That way no one could point fingers and say that nothing is being done with the money. The total collection would add to about Rs 1.7 lakh.” Armed with a go-ahead from the society, a committee
was formed and then all avenues were explored. Getting all the information was the easy part, but getting the consultants in would mean an expense of about Rs 2.5 lakh. “That was not acceptable as it
WATER CRISIS meant surpassing the budget. So it was back to the drawing board,” says Kale. After brainstorming and analysing the cost components of each quotation, they realised that they could get a plumber, get the materials and do most of it themselves. The frustrating
part was the water filter. Since rainwater is collected on terraces and balconies a lot of impurities also come along with the water. “From leaves to dust to everything in between, comes into the water. So we need a special filter before the water gets to the tank for storage. This was mostly available with RWH consultants and even to just fix that they were asking for a lot of money.” So, it was back again for more R&D and they connected to Raj Irritech in Ahmedabad, which manufactures these filters. The rest as they say is history. The company’s regular
clients being dealers and consultants, was rather surprised at the enquiry for their Rain Tap Pop-up filter from residents of a housing society, and so were more than willing to help. >> Continued on page 5
EXTRAA Milind Kale - 9890664321 / MilindShrirangKale@gmail. com “The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting”: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=eJCTAXb_BWs (18 minutes)
z What is rainwater harvesting? It simply means trapping rain-water and using it. You can store it in tanks or you can use it to recharge groundwater. z Does it work? Yes. Our ancestors harvested rain just as naturally as they tilled the ground to grow crops. We lost touch with these local solutions. But now, as the taps dry up, more and more people are reviving this ageold system and practicing it very successfully. z Can I harvest rain in my own house? Yes you can. Structures to harvest rain require little space. A dried bore well, a row of soak pits or a tank—concealed below the ground—are all that you need. The open spaces— rooftops and ground—can be used as your catchment. z How much will it cost? It varies, depending on the area of your roof and other structures that you will use to harvest rain. But rainwater harvesting does not require major construction work, so the expenses suit most of our pockets. Find out for yourself. z Who will build it and how long will it take? You need someone who understands rainwater harvesting. It is simple but it still needs someone who has experience in the principles of rainwater harvesting. Then a skilled mason or a plumber can do the job for you within 10 days.
No more dull moments at Post Offices now Changing with the times, India Post to offer ATM banking, sale of gold coins, BSNL mobile services, a second mobile post office and much more
What is your
LIFE 365 daily all about?
Pic: Nitin Lawate
ROOP KARNANI
Improve services
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id you know that you could buy railway tickets and even do cancellation of railway tickets from select post offices? That’s not all besides offering postal services, India Post is now already offering a range of financial services akin practically to a bank. “What’s more, we are soon going to have ATMs too,” says D B Shirke, Sr Post Master of GPO, Pune. Amongst the several things you can do is open a savings account, at an interest rate of 4 per cent, which is comparable to other banks. You could also transfer money electronically
Life 365 is more than just a daily that packages ‘life’ in its 16 pages. It is a platform to understand your city better in terms of the good work silently being done by hundreds of good samaritans. Their stories of
z It’s good news that post offices have begun new services. However, Life 365 urges the Post Master General to sensitise the staff to customers. Once interpersonal interaction improves, the reputation of the post offices as dull will vanish. A tall order? Let’s see. anywhere in India. Besides, India Post has tied up with Western Union Financial Services Inc and Moneygram Payment Systems Inc., two of the world’s largest money transfer companies, to either physically receive money from abroad or transfer it into your account at the post office. One could also buy UTI
how they lend an extending hand could propel you to contribute your bit to the society. In this progressive city of Pune, the desire to the serve the society is very strong, as we learnt from interaction with citizens.
Do you know of a person, a group of persons, an institute, an initiative or an activity that would inspire people or promote the larger social good? Are you one of them? Life 365 offers itself as your
Mutual Funds at India Post. They always offered income tax saving schemes like PPF, but now the limit has been raised to one lakh rupees, which could help you in reducing your tax liability. Post Office Time Deposit (POTD) is an attractive fixed deposit scheme with interest rates. >> Continued on page 5
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