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.Patna,(BiharTimes): Even as summer is yet to exhibit its full might the underground water level in Patna and several other places are going down very fast.
According to the report of Central Ground Water Board, Mid-Eastern Region (CGWB-MER), it is depleting at the rate of 13 cm every year in the state capital itself though it is situated just on the bank of river Ganga. By that rate it would be down by a kilometre in 800 years. In the past 20 years the water has gone deeper by 2.5 metres.
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There are 89 deep tubewells of the Patna Municipal Corporation which supply water to the city. They tap the water in the range of 50 to 200 metres. Besides, there are innumerable household and apartments with private tubewells that extract water from a range of 40 to 100 metres.
The estimate made by Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission in 2006 says that just 52 per cent of population in Patna depend on the Municipal Corporation for their water requirement, while 40 per cent of them have their own tubewells. The total annual extraction is put at 180 million cubic metres.
This sharp fall in the groundwater have rendered many private tubewells useless. People are installing jet motors and digging borewell further deep.
In places like Gaya, which is much more hilly the falling water-level has wreaked havoc. Even in the month of February the Gaya Municipal Corporation had to send water to localities like Gawalbigha on tanks as there is no other way to fulfil people’s requirement.
comments...
Patna had much better water supply ( 5 A. M. to Noon, and 3 P.M. to 9 P.M. ) than most places amongst Indian cities even until the sixties. There were very few underground pumping sets then. Even on streets, there were taps. Gradually, the population of Patna increased but the supply facilities did not change by very much.
At the same time, open drains were closed and every where concrete or pucca paving started which is good and hygienic but the water table had to be maintained by alternate charging mechanism. Some of the canals such as the one parallel to Khagaul Road - was all filled up and houses have been constructed on both sides of it. The same holds for the old course ( I believe ) of river Sone along Serpentine Road to Digha.
This water problem in Patna is nothing when we look at Delhi, Mumbai etc. Now, the Ganga river has changed its course much more northwards. Unless some other arrangements are made, Patna is heading for much worse problems.
Anand M. Sharan
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