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The Hindu : By one estimate there are over 1,80,000 borewells in the city of Bangalore alone. Almost every new house or apartment drills a borewell as a water security measure and also since the Water Supply Board does not provide water for construction. On Sarjapur road to the east of the city, borewells have reached depths of 1,250 feet and yet have failed to strike water.It is also most likely that one in every two borewells is now defunct mostly due to the lowering of the water table and also sometime because of problems with silt and pump failures. The yield of some borewells yield has declined dramatically and can no longer be pumped in a sustainable manner.Can these borewells be used for a positive purpose by owners? Considering the investments made for their drilling how can they be converted from a dead asset to a live asset?Rainwater harvesting offers one hope for these defunct or low yielding borewells. Rooftop rainwater is picked from a clean catchment, filtered to remove physical impurities and allowed to directly enter the casing of the borewell. It is important to ensure a byepass arrangement in case there is accidental pollution of water in the catchment.In the case of Bangalore with 900 mm of rainfall, approximately 90,000 litres of rain will fall annually on a 100 square metre roof area. Much of this water can be recharged into defunct borewells. Since this rainfall is spread over nearly 60 rainy days it is reasonably well distributed and therefore the topping up of the underground waters is also well distributed.FiltersMany rooftop rainwater filters are available in the market, including the rainy filter and the pop-up filter. They can be used while recharging the borewells. Many borewells are located in public places such as parks or open playgrounds. There is a potential to recharge them with flowing storm water. Of course there should be no…More

The Hindu : No hopes on softer interest ratesRising inflation could play spoilsport for home loan borrowers in the near term, says SRIKALA BHASHYAMIt’s common knowledge that the much feared correction in property market is finally here and from a buyer’s point of view it is good news as prices have got more realistic. Gone are the days when your property builder or seller quoted a higher price during your second visit to him. While prices are moving downwards on the property front, the same can’t be said on the loans front.Banks are either sticking to old interest rates or are offering discounts only on loans with respect to some property. Going forward, there is not much hope for softer interest rates at least in the short term, due to inflation.As you are aware, there hasn’t been much good news from this segment in the last couple of weeks and in fact, the inflation has surged towards the six per cent mark. In reality, this percentage is even a tad higher and naturally, is well above the comfort level.While the Reserve Bank has taken inflation management as one of the key issues for itself, there has been growing consensus among economists that the (average) benchmark rate is unlikely to move below five per cent in 2008. That is not very comforting news for home loan borrowers.An average inflation rate of over five per cent means a moderate interest rate regime for consumers and hence for those looking to invest in property it would mean higher outgo. Already, EMIs which were in the range of Rs.1,000 per lakh (for 15-year loans) have moved to over Rs.1,100. Hence, home loan seekers will have to strike a balance between their EMIs and cash flows.Keep EMI lowOne of the simplest options is to keep the EMI low so that it does not strain your monthly income. Unfortunately, it is not such a…More

The Hindu : Is the price spiral here to stay?Urbanisation is the root cause of increase in property rates, says K. SUKUMARANWhat are the factors pushing up the price of property? Is price increase an Indian phenomenon only?The ‘stop press’ news is that in Noida, Delhi, a 95-acre commercial land has been sold for Rs. 5006 crore! The cost of one acre of commercial landed property is above the half century mark! What can be the square foot cost in the area fora built-up office premises? After five years, what will be the ruling market rate there? How will the other metros react to this single transaction? These and many related questions are difficult to answer unless we have full information on the demand, supply, future scope for development and the like.Urbanisation is the most important factor for pushing up land prices. Normally, a landholder will not sell his land unless he needs money for many urgent domestic needs.When there is growing urbanisation and demand for land for development into housing and commercial complexes and windfall prices are offered, the colour of money attracts the village folk and sale of land becomes rampant. Industrial development and infrastructure such as roads, railways, dams, airports call for acquisition of land by the government/promoters at higher prices.In present day urbanisation, the property price rise is triggered by the competition among builders and developers. When demand goes up and supply dwindles, price has to necessarily go up.Investment toolWhen the returns from investment in banks, government securities and company shares aren’t encouraging, investors will turn to gold/ silver and property. In India, the urbanisation factor has been of a high degree during the last 50 years or so which lead to increase in the price of land and related property.From genuine investment, people turned to speculation for making quick and substantial profits by investing in land around the developing cities and towns.There are…More

The Hindu : The turn around from a chartered accountant to an alternative technology expert couldn’t have been more triumphant for Chandrashekar Hariharan, CEO, Biodiversity Conservation India Ltd., (BCIL). He has spent more than two decades working on what he calls “the installation of green virtues in bare brick-and-mortar living.”Consumed with aspects that bring harnessing of nature into day-to-day living, and rejecting characteristics that encourage the repeated use of energy-intensive methods in building and living styles, Bangalore’s ‘Green Man’ is all set to offer another set of apartments that speak of sensitive and insightful ecological living in his ‘BCIL-Collective’ in Yelahanka.PropertyPluscaught up with Chandrashekar Hariharan for a detailed chat (appearing in two parts) as the man of several hues has dabbled in nothing less than a dozen areas of sustainable development.He was member of a working group for Rationalisation of Water Distribution in Bangalore City of the Water Supply Board; and member of an advisory cell for the prospective privatisation of water distribution in Khandivli East, a northern suburb of Mumbai.He initiated a spectrum of technologies with practical application in energy-efficient irrigation systems for large, afforested areas.BCIL’s projects are known to be totally self-sufficient in water needs, thanks to recycling technology. “We do not take municipal water supply into account for our needs,” Hariharan proudly says. “However, water connections will be through in every project as nothing can be prophesied with regard to sustainability and changing needs,” he reiterates.Realistic solutions“We can’t change the world overnight,” he accepts “but some realistic, down-to-earth solutions within the confines of their work-and-build could sensitise people to the world reality.” Earlier, Hariharan had cherished his association with watersheds in Uttaranchal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Nagaland. Yet another noticeable effort was his treatment of sewage/sullage water in the city with chemical-free, baffles-based tanks that considerably reduced the Total Dissolved Salts in the wastewater before reaching the streams and rivers.You have been associated…More