Hyderabad-based, The Rainwater Project is restoring one stepwell at a time

Hyderabad-based, The Rainwater Project has been restoring one stepwell at a time since 2020 and is on a mission to create a water sustainable country and align with UN and Indian SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). TRP primarily depends on piped supply today, however, they aim to start working in sustainable cities and restore natural resources for water.

The Inception

The Rainwater Project, founded by Kalpana Ramesh, also known as the ‘Water Warrier’, is a social enterprise. Established in 2020, the vision behind TRP is to attain water self-reliance through sustainable water management practices. With a team of expert architects and designers, TRP aims to build water sustainable cities across India.

The team consists of architects, designers, urban planners, environmentalists, working in collaboration with geologists, hydrologists, watershed analysts, civil engineers, and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) consultants.

With global warming on the rise, rainwater harvesting and water management practices have become increasingly important. With a mission to conserve the Earth’s natural water resources and address the groundwater issue, TRP provides innovative solutions.

TRP helps homeowners, corporates, government bodies or responsible citizens create a water-positive ecosystem at their sites. TRP assists in a 3-step process: Consultation, Execution, and Restoration. Since its inception, TRP has harvested over 90 crore liters of water, completed 45 projects, and successfully consulted over 400 users.

Stepwell Restorations

Since its inception, this Hyderabad-based social enterprise has worked on several projects and helped restore many stepwells across the city. Last year, TRP successfully revived a 200-year old heritage well in Gachibowli out of a garbage dump. This revived well has up to 8 lakh liters of water storage. Additionally, TRP also revived the irrigation well at Kondapur, which has a capacity of 12 lakh liters. Moreover, A heritage stepwell in Bansilalpet in Secunderabad was revived recently. For the past 4 decades, over 2000 tonnes of debris have been piling up here, forcing families to relocate.

“Consider this. A garbage dump is now turned into a huge rainwater collection point. This will not only reduce the problem of urban flooding, but also improve groundwater quality, and create local water security by impacting at least 50 borewells.” said Kalpana Ramesh, founder of The Rainwater Project which undertook the well’s revival. Upon cleaning, the stepwell’s capacity rose to 22 lakh liters. Speaking on this well, she said, “The well is 30.5 meters long, 19.2 feet wide, and 53 feet deep. After six months of hard work, NGO and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) removed 2,000 metric tons of garbage.“

Additionally, TRP also revived a heritage well at Baram Baavi in Narayanpet district last October. Adding on the cost, she said, “Going ahead with the same model of funding our projects, crowdfunding as well as support from donors, we aim to do another 20 wells in the next 2 years. These wells are huge rainwater collection points that are important for the sustainability of a city.”

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