Pushing back Delhi's 'Day Zero': Centralised efforts needed for rainwater harvesting

Abstract

To prevent a water crisis in New Delhi, city dwellers are being asked to take up the socially responsible act of catching rain where it falls, known as rainwater harvesting. Just how viable, however, are individual and household efforts for addressing the water challenges on the horizon? Drawing from a selection of documents and interviews, the article contends that several disincentives deter people from acting on the clarion call of household-level rainwater harvesting. The observations shift the onus of responsibility back onto the centralised water system and the municipal agencies charged with water management.