Environmental concerns

However, environmentalists feel that both government and public have shown apathy towards borewell issue which has ruptured the earth beyond its recognition. When we spoke to renowned environmentalist Y N Yellappa Reddy, he said “Before giving clearance for new buildings, regulatory authorities like BWSSB, BBMP, BDA, KSPCB should check the source of water used for construction. If the building is dependent on borewells, then clearance should be given only after the owners produce recharge plans like RWH.

Lakes have to be desilted and encroachment of percolating tanks should be identified and removed.” Environmentalists and experts suggest that, sewage water should be treated to tertiary level and that water should be supplied through separate pipelines for purposes other than drinking, cooking and bathing. This will reduce the dependence on groundwater.

Tree felling in the city is widely attributed to the issue of road cutting and road digging. Yellappa Reddy further opined that due to sinking of borewells, the roots of trees have been damaged. “It weakens the roots, which fail to withstand strong winds” he said. Apart from this, he expressed his concerns over pollution. “When a borewell is drilled, it not only shoots up air pollution levels, but also adds  to  noise pollution.

Stating that the rainfall pattern over 100 years has remained the same,  Dr K Md Najeeb, Regional Director of Central Ground Water Authority concludes, “This situation is an offshoot of rapid urbanisation. The groundwater level has touched  absymally low levels. Concretisation of roads, pavements has also resulted in closure of percolating tanks which have in turn flooded low-lying areas.”

Cost of drilling

The existing rate for drilling is anything above ` 68 per foot. After drilling 200 feet, for every one feet, `10 will be added. 10 years ago, it was just ` 35 per feet.

A leading borewell driller says, “As the levels of water have gone down over the years, we have to go to 700 plus feet down the earth, to get water, and this will cost about `1.5 lakh.

Also, a separate motor has to be fixed to pump the water. Based on this range, the cost of the motor ranges between `25,000 to ` 1.5 lakh.”