New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated a chain of nine rainwater harvesting (RWH) recharge wells to the community in South Delhi. These wells have a combined potential to harvest more than 1.4 crore litres of rain water during a normal monsoon season, making it among the largest such projects in a private residential colony.

Under the technical guidance of the Central Ground Water Board and support from the Bhagidari Cell of the Government of Delhi, the local resident's welfare association (RWA) took up the project in association with Coca-Cola India.

This project in South Delhi is one amongst the 40 projects that Coca-Cola India is commissioning this year, of which 10 are in Delhi. The soft drink maker says that it already supports several such projects with 200 RWH structures in 17 states. In Delhi alone, the existing RWH structures have the potential to harvest more than 100 million liters of rain water.

According to chief minister Dikshit, "Fresh water is a global challenge and needs the urgent attention of all stakeholders. It is heartening to note of some path breaking initiatives being taken by many NGOs and corporates in the realm of water management. Rainwater harvesting has emerged as a viable option to redirect rainwater into the ground, which otherwise goes waste and we need to encourage more people and societies to take up RWH projects. I hope that we see more such examples of private-public partnership in the area of water conservation and recharging ground water.