Residents of the city have started taking baby steps to arrest rainwater run-off in the absence of a proper mechanism to conserve water.

Durgesh Singh, a resident of LIG quarter in Harmu, has converted a dried-up borehole into a water harvesting system in his locality.

“Two years ago, I had done a similar experiment with some boreholes in the locality. This time, I was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request for a mass movement for water conservation and repeated the experiment, which turned out to be successful,” Singh said.

Referring to the system as simple and pocket-friendly, Singh said he dug two pits to collect rainwater and recharge groundwater.

“The first pit should be dug around the dried up borehole and the second 6 feet away from it. The first pit, also called the percolation pit, should have a diameter of 5 feet and a depth of 3 feet. It should be covered with pebbles and bricks.

The second pit should be 4 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep,” he said.

According to Singh, both the pits should be connected by a channel.

“When it rains, water gets collected in the second pit and flows to the first through the channel. From the first pit, rainwater will percolate through the borehole to recharge groundwater. To restrict the entry of floating impurities, the mouth of the borehole should be covered with a perforated plastic bag. The second pit is used for filtration. Sedimentation occurs in the second pit before the water reaches the first trench. Lime and potash alum should be used to clean the water,” Durgesh explained.

At Vidya Nagar in Sukhdeonagar, LIC agent Abhay Kumar has dug a pothole to collect water from the pipe that drains away rainwater from his rooftop.

“Though I know the system is not ideal, yet it helps prevent the wastage of rainwater,” Kumar said.

District commandant of Jharkhand Homeguard Binay Kumar Jha said he had tried to stop surface runoff by digging two trenches — one within his office campus and another outside.

“I planned to dig the trenches to collect rain water after witnessing the water crisis in the capital this year,” Jha said.

Deputy commissioner Mahimapat Ray said he had asked his officials to take steps to prevent wastage of rainwater in a meeting two days ago.

“I think the message has started reaching people. There is a general sense of awareness on rainwater harvesting ,” Ray said.

JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey, however, said the response was lukewarm.

“The government is just passing the buck on the common people without having any solid plan to conserve or harvest rainwater. A few people who are already aware of the issue are taking initiatives on their own. Some people are considering a water harvesting system as it a precondition to building plan approvals. After wasting crores to revive the Harmu rivulet, the government is now being preachy about saving water,” Pandey said.