Guntur: A retired professor hailing from the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh is doing inspiring work in rainwater harvesting and has turned his house into a water conservation center. Prof Rathaaih, a native of Bharatpet, Guntur district, has been a professor in Plant Pathology at the Assam Agricultural University and retired 15 years ago.
Given his field of work in plants, Prof Rathaaih may not be associated with hydraulics, but water conservation is in his genes. He noticed the sinking water level in the Guntur district during the summers and wanted to overcome it somehow. Since his retirement, he has been working on the project and has converted his house into a rainwater harvesting center by storing filtered water in tanks.
Prof Rathaaih says that rainwater is the purest form of water adding he had confirmed the purity through multiple testing of the stored water. As per the professor it costs up to Rs 40,000 to establish a rainwater harvest set up. "The water does not change even if it is stored for a year. Its quality increases with storage. This is the specialty of rainwater. If we store rainwater that falls on a courtyard, there will be enough water to drink and use for a year for a family," he added.
