By Chandrahas Charmadi
Do you hear people blaming that they don’t get water though they drill borewell up to 1,500 feet in summer? Around 50 percent of people who try for a borewell face this problem in recent days. Especially in North Karnataka, each family has one borewell. Many tried three to four borewell but didn’t get water even in one, which means they are under the burden of loan.
Whatever the result may be, we hear about people drilling borewells at the beginning of the summer. Some drill up to 2,000 feet for the water. But, we rarely hear about the people who try to harvest the rain water. Amid this, Mrs. Hemavathi Heggade of Dharmasthala inaugurated a new way of harvesting the rain water to borewells.
The project which started on the practical basis in Davangere with the sponsorship of Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development project succeeded in winning the heart of North Karnataka. Many farmers got water in dry borewell. The water-level of many borewells is increasing.
How to recharge a borewell?
We have to dig a pit of five to ten feet depth and a perimeter of five feet around a live or dry borewell. We should drill around 50 to 100 holes, ¾ feet above the ground in the casing pipe which is fixed to the borewell. The holes should be covered using nylon net. Boulders should be placed up to one to one and a half feet from the earth. Later, 75mm crushed stones should be piled up to one foot. Smaller crushed stones should be piled up to half feet. One full bag of charcoal should be poured before you fill the pit with sand.
Water stored in smaller canals and fields can be released to this pit. Water reaches the bottom of the pit step-by-step and reaches borewell through the casing pipe. Water will be filtered in each level. So, water will not get polluted with the unwanted substances like stone, mud etc.
Through this, an effort of harvesting the flowing water or saved water to the borewell has become a success. Already people are happy that they get water in dry borewells with recharge method in Davangere district. This can be done by individuals and more people would show interest in days to come.