The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has inaugurated a couple of new initiatives this Independence Day– to plant 75,000 saplings and create 5,000 rainwater recharge wells in Bengaluru. These were put forward to commemorate the country’s 75th Independence Day. The tree-planting project will be conducted jointly by the BBMP, the Horticulture Department, and the Lakes Department. The BBMP in a statement said that the initiative will identify spaces around lakes in the city where the 75,000 saplings will be planted. 

It further said that around 1,300 parks within the BBMP jurisdiction will have 5000 rainwater recharge wells constructed, to save rainwater and recharge groundwater. This task is being taken up jointly by the BBMP and a nonprofit organisation called United Way Bengaluru.

In a statement, BBMP said, “In the BBMP's limit around 1,300 parks will have recharge wells to save the rainwater. For this United Way, Bengaluru will set up 5,000 recharge wells scientifically. By saving the rainwater, the groundwater level will be recharged around the city, and carrying it out in different areas of BBMP limits will benefit those areas.”

According to the BBMP, there are already 24 such recharge wells in existence in Freedom Park, and an additional six wells will be built there as well.

The BBMP stated that each well will be 12 feet in depth and 4 feet in circumference and it will hold approximately 4,000 litres of water. According to the municipal body, a total of two crore litres of water can be saved in the city through this initiative.

Earlier, in March, the Karnataka government had taken up a project in Cubbon Park to create rainwater recharge wells and open wells. The intention of the project was to prevent the digging of borewells and the need to transport water to the park from other places through tankers. It was done to make Cubbon Park self-sufficient when it came to its horticultural water needs.