City being ‘bored’ to death

The groundwater levels in the City have gone down disastrously but there is no attempt to keep a check on the unbridled exploitation of precious water

Unknown to authorities, thousands of people in the City are sinking their money digging bore wells that in the end provide no trace of water. Despite scientific data showing dangerous depletion of groundwater in the City due to over exploitation, denudation and killing of water bodies, desperate people still go digging wells and end up losing money.

In Somajiguda alone, for instance, within a span of two weeks, over five bore wells have been dug, but only one yielded some water and the others boulders and pebbles.

Postnoon’s reality check revealed a tragic-comic situation where those who lost money are pulling out their hair in desperation. Well digging companies, which are the only beneficiaries in the deal, mislead many saying that the house of the prospective client sits right on top of a water source! But digging produces dry sand at the end.

Siddhappa, a resident of Dwaraka Nivas in Jaffer Ali Bagh, one of the many residential colonies, says, “We had dug a bore well here last week. It went all the way to 1,200 feet and yet we found no trace of water. Our only source of water is now tankers that cost Rs.1,100 a day.”

In fact, residents say power, water and fuel is eating up three-fourth of their home budget. The residents of Dwaraka Nivas, for instance, spent `1.60 lakh on drilling a bore well in the hope that it will solve their water woes, but to no avail. “Spending `30,000 a month on water alone has increased the monthly building maintenance fee,” he says. The fact that 1,200 feet of bore well drilling has not helped their crisis has become a local record of sorts.

But a hundred yards away, luck favoured David Raja. “For a mere 150 feet, our bore well has yielded a bountiful supply. Our total expenditure has been around `1.50 lakh including labour charges,” says his ecstatic wife.

Drying up of ground water in City is a reality beyond a shred of doubt. All this, say experts and geologists, is due to the destruction of lakes, marshes, trees and over exploitation of water.

The APWALTA Act of 2004 lacks the appropriate monitoring required to keep in check the rising number of bore well drillings as it limits its responsibility to only prohibiting people from drilling bore wells within the vicinity of a public drinking water source.

There is no effort at the municipal level too to keep a check on the groundwater usage, it is pointed out.

Tags: borewells, depletion of groundwater, featured, full-image, Groundwater levels

Category: City, City News