Newindpress

Mangalore, Mar 23: The St Joseph Engineering College in Vamanjoor on city’s outskirts will soon join a growing group of elite institutions, which do not depend on the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) for their day-to-day water needs.

The St Joseph Engineering College, a Catholic Minority Educational Institution run by Diocese of Mangalore, was attracted to the concept of rainwater harvesting since its inception in 2002.

The Institution owes its passion for water conservation to its Director Fr Valerian D’Souza. Incidentally, the Director celebrated his birthday on March 22, which coincides with World Water Day celebrations.

The Institution put its intention to practice by first harvesting the surface run-off rainwater with the help of percolation pits dug randomly in the sprawling campus of 25 acres.

“Due to the laterite terrain, all the surface water inside the campus is drained to the water table,” sources in college said. The initiative reaped handsome benefits with bore wells in the campus lasting through peak summer.

The Institution is now poised to extend its campaign to a decisive stage. Under a self-financing scheme, the college hopes to divert rainwater and store it in a gigantic cement tank of 12-lakh cubic metre capacity.

According to the proposal backed by the management, laterite stones can be excavated from a particular area within the college premises. “By our estimate, it is possible to excavate 12 lakh bricks,” sources said.

While each laterite brick is priced around Rs nine in market, the cost to excavate a brick works out cheaply at half of the market price. Thus money raised from selling bricks will be utilised for construction of the tank. Sources told Express that the Director Fr Valerian D’Souza is keen on completing the tank’s construction before the onset of monsoon.

“The process to obtain formal approval from the Deputy Commissioner will be initiated this month,” sources added.