Rainwater harvesting

Water is essential for life. Yes this is a universal truth and we all agree to this. But do we know How much rainwater is essential? I suppose we still need to figure this out as the necessity of rainwater harvesting is alarming. As they say "Kal k liye, jal ko bachana hai" so for a Sustainable future, rainwater harvesting is the only way out.

I want to narrate a story, so it will be simple enough to make you understand the real crisis of water faced by people in the remote areas. How hard is it to get a glass full of water for drinking? Yes this was the question I used to ask myself every morning in my camp days. I was doing a 7 day camp in a remote village of Maharashtra. It was my first day of camp and we were a team of 50 NSS volunteers who gathered for a 'life adventure' at village. Yes it was a big thing for us but a reality for hundreds of villagers. In the morning our first task was to arrange the drinking water. Is it not sad that people living in urban area starts their day with morning tea whereas in a remote village people need to hunt for water?. After rigourous efforts we were able to arrange 1 big container of water for 50 volunteers. This was our one day struggle but can you imagine the every day struggle of villagers. Next was our big mission to convey and convince the villagers for Rainwater Harvesting. We all know that rainwater harvesting is the need of hour but we are still not installing it because we think that it is exorbitant. So this is the time to do away with this myth. Installation charges starts at as less as 2000 rupees only.

There are major 7 steps only to for the installation:-
Step 1: Choosing the right spot for the collection of rainwater
Step 2: To fix the PVC gutters
Step 3: Next is the fixation of downpipes with clamps
Step 4: To install the washout pipes
Step 5: For the collection of clean rain water filter needs to be installed on the storage tank
Step 6: Now, the requirement for the storage tank where the water will gets stored
Step 7: Get an overflow pipe, equal to the size of inlet pipe and fix it on the top of storage tank.

Isn't it easy enough, to store this clean water for our daily needs as well to feed the cattles? If the villagers can understand the urgency of rainwater harvesting then why cant the urban people?