Mumbai:
In Mumbai's iconic Shivaji Park, considered the nesting ground for icons like Sachin Tendulkar, cricket pitches are watered with clean treated drinking water every single day.
One lakh litres of drinking water is thus wasted, stretching Mumbai's already limited supply.
But this rainy season, things might be a little different.
Raj Thackeray's party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is funding a water harvesting programme for the park.
This system aims to collect almost 14 crore litres by recharging existing underground wells with rainwater. Once operational, the park's dependence on civic supply of water will be reduced by 70 per cent.
The local MLA, Nitin Sardesai hopes that this will stem the wastage of good clean water. "We wanted this to happen, so that the Shivaji Park looks green again," he says.
While Shivaji Park is the latest showcase project for water harvesting, Mumbai as a city, sadly, can claim no such glory.
Mumbai's municipal corporation has made rain water harvesting mandatory for new building projects since a decade.
But shockingly, the civic body still does not have basic data of how many buildings have actually implemented it or how many of those systems actually work.
Umesh Mundlye a water harvesting expert says the toughest thing is to battle with the apathetic attitude of Mumbaikars.
"Awareness or education about water is lacking everywhere, and education is no exception", he says.
Mumbai's daily shortage of 800 million litres, Mundlye says can be significantly overcome by simply implementing the system.
But there are a few success stories.
Sealine building in Khar, Mumbai's northern suburb, was one of the early adopters of rain water harvesting. It now no longer is dependent on tanker water supply, even in the summer.
Deep in Maharashtra's drought-hit Jalna's Kadavanchi village, is an oasis of green and plenty.
The village transformed itself by implementing rain water harvesting projects. The benefits have percolated to 3000 villagers who tend lush grape vineyards, even during a poor monsoon.
Bhagwan Shirsagar a farmer says, "I spent Rs. 5.5 lakh in this project. But I'm elated with the results. We are not feeling the impact of the drought."