A housing colony in Visakhapatnam has not bought a single drop of drinking water in 27 years. The 1,500 residents of Jagannadharaju Nagar credit 15 rainwater harvesting pits. Scientist K S R Murthy, president of the residents’ welfare association, led the effort. He saw groundwater falling and monsoon water stagnating in the streets. The association turned abandoned wells and sumps into harvesting pits. Terrace pipes were connected directly to the pits. Roadside harvesting was added to recharge groundwater. The results are striking. Water is available at 50 feet in the colony, against 200 feet elsewhere in the city. The pits save an estimated 7.45 lakh litres of water every year. The initiative won a Rs 1 lakh cash prize from the Union Ministry of Water Resources in 2019. The colony shows what community action can achieve. While other parts of Visakhapatnam have faced borewell failures, the residents here stayed water-secure. Their model of catching rain where it falls offers lessons for cities facing water stress.