Recharge wells to rejuvenate ground water in City

Ground water on outskirts exploited to the hilt, says environmentalist

Although a few private layouts in the new BBMP areas have constructed recharge wells, a majority of the population is yet to get the idea.

Environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy said civic agencies do not have a record on the number of borewells and wells dug in the City. "Ground water, especially in the outer Bangalore regions, has been exploited to the hilt. The only solution to recharge such borewells would be to create enough recharge wells," he said.

The areas where water gets stored must be identified and all the existing borewells and open wells must be protected so that the rain water flows into them. These existing wells can be natural recharge wells.

Yellappa Reddy said it is the duty of the BBMP Commissioner and Mayor to take initiative in addressing ground water depletion and encourage people to protect existing wells.
According to a rough estimation, there are nearly 2.25 lakh borewells in Karnataka and only 25,000 of them belong to civic agencies. Flowing water is found in the aquifer layer, a weatherd rock surface beneath the earth. Below this is the hard rock area where static water is found. A Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) study has revealed that water level has dried up to the acquifer level in K R Puram and Whitefield.

A CGWB scientist said: “Once the borewell dries up, the pit is normally used as a dump yard to dispose of garbage which leads to contamination of ground water. Civic agencies must take initiative to protect these wells and allow rain water to flow so that ground water will be recharged.”

Regional Director of CGWB Dr Najeeb K Md said ground water has depleted not only in Bangalore but in the regions across the State where people have solely depended on borewells.

He said: “The Government is consulting officers from the CGWB regarding sustaining of the drinking water sources in the State. The process of training the Panchayat Raj engineers is underway. We are giving technical guidance to them about building new structures to facilitate ground water rejuvenation.”