Q1.
I. You have observed the difÏculties faced by the people in your neighbourhood due to scarcity of water especially during the summer months. Write a letter to the Councillor of your Municipal ward, requesting her/him to set up a rain water harvesting unit. Provide suggestions to address the issue. Remember to use formal language, keep sentences short and to the point, state the purpose clearly and concisely, and give relevant details. Format and Layout: Sender's address, Date, The Municipal Councillor (Receiver's designation and address), Subject: Request to Install a Rainwater Harvesting Unit in Ward No. 44, Dear Madam, Paragraph 1: Drawing attention to the problem, Paragraph 2: Causes and Consequences, Paragraph 3: Request and Suggestions, Paragraph 4: Conclusion, Yours sincerely, Signature, (Sender's full name in brackets)
Answer
Model letter — follow the layout exactly as the book prints it, and keep the four paragraphs to their four jobs.
17, Gokhale Road
Vidyanagar
Pune – 411 038
2 September 2026
The Municipal Councillor
Ward No. 44
Pune Municipal Corporation
Pune – 411 038
Subject: Request to Install a Rainwater Harvesting Unit in Ward No. 44
Dear Madam,
I am a resident of Ward No. 44 and a student of Class VIII. I am writing to draw your attention to the severe shortage of water that our locality faces every summer. From March to June this year, piped water was supplied for barely an hour a day, and for two weeks in May there was no supply at all. Families queued at the single working handpump near the market from five in the morning.
The reason is not that we receive too little rain. Our ward records over 700 mm of rainfall every monsoon, but almost all of it runs off the roads and rooftops into the storm drains within hours. Nothing is stored and nothing soaks in, so the water table keeps falling. Three of the six borewells in our lane have already gone dry. The consequences fall hardest on the elderly and on children, who miss school hours standing in queues, and several families now spend nearly a thousand rupees a month on tankers.
I therefore request you to sanction a rainwater harvesting unit for our ward. May I suggest the following measures:
1. Install rooftop harvesting units on the ward office, the municipal school and the community hall, and direct the collected water into recharge pits.
2. Make rooftop harvesting compulsory for new buildings, as several other municipal corporations already do.
3. Desilt and repair the old percolation tank behind the school ground so that it can recharge groundwater again.
4. Hold an awareness drive before the monsoon; our school's Eco Club would gladly help with posters and door-to-door information.
A harvesting unit is a one-time cost that would reduce the ward's dependence on tankers for years to come. I hope you will consider this request before the coming monsoon, so that this year's rain is stored rather than lost. I shall be grateful for a reply.
Yours sincerely,
(signature)
(Ananya Deshpande)
Vidyanagar
Pune – 411 038
2 September 2026
The Municipal Councillor
Ward No. 44
Pune Municipal Corporation
Pune – 411 038
Subject: Request to Install a Rainwater Harvesting Unit in Ward No. 44
Dear Madam,
I am a resident of Ward No. 44 and a student of Class VIII. I am writing to draw your attention to the severe shortage of water that our locality faces every summer. From March to June this year, piped water was supplied for barely an hour a day, and for two weeks in May there was no supply at all. Families queued at the single working handpump near the market from five in the morning.
The reason is not that we receive too little rain. Our ward records over 700 mm of rainfall every monsoon, but almost all of it runs off the roads and rooftops into the storm drains within hours. Nothing is stored and nothing soaks in, so the water table keeps falling. Three of the six borewells in our lane have already gone dry. The consequences fall hardest on the elderly and on children, who miss school hours standing in queues, and several families now spend nearly a thousand rupees a month on tankers.
I therefore request you to sanction a rainwater harvesting unit for our ward. May I suggest the following measures:
1. Install rooftop harvesting units on the ward office, the municipal school and the community hall, and direct the collected water into recharge pits.
2. Make rooftop harvesting compulsory for new buildings, as several other municipal corporations already do.
3. Desilt and repair the old percolation tank behind the school ground so that it can recharge groundwater again.
4. Hold an awareness drive before the monsoon; our school's Eco Club would gladly help with posters and door-to-door information.
A harvesting unit is a one-time cost that would reduce the ward's dependence on tankers for years to come. I hope you will consider this request before the coming monsoon, so that this year's rain is stored rather than lost. I shall be grateful for a reply.
Yours sincerely,
(signature)
(Ananya Deshpande)
What each paragraph must do — this is what the marks are for:
- Paragraph 1 — the problem. Say who you are, then state the problem with a specific fact. 'There is a water problem' persuades nobody; 'one hour of supply a day from March to June' does.
- Paragraph 2 — causes and consequences. Explain why it happens (rain runs off, nothing recharges) and who it hurts. A councillor acts on consequences.
- Paragraph 3 — request and suggestions. Make one clear request, then number your suggestions. Numbered points are read; a paragraph of them is skimmed. Offer to help — it changes the tone from complaint to partnership.
- Paragraph 4 — conclusion. One line on the benefit, one on the timing, one polite close.
Format reminders that students most often lose marks on: sender's address at the top left, then the date, then the receiver's designation and address; the subject line in bold and specific ('…in Ward No. 44', not 'Regarding water'); 'Dear Madam,' followed by a comma; 'Yours sincerely,' — note that Yours takes the capital and sincerely does not, and that there is no apostrophe in 'Yours'; and the name in brackets below the signature. Keep the whole letter to one page.