Groundwater level rising in Jodhpur

At a time when acute water shortage has become a cause of grave concern in the desert state of Rajasthan, Jodhpur faces an alarming situation of rapid rise in groundwater level that has started seeping into houses.

While it is difficult to draw water from the ground in most parts of Rajasthan, government machinery as well as many locals here, are forced to pump out large amount of water from wells and the basements of houses.

Groundwater level has been rising for more than a decade in at least 40 per cent of the land area in the city, and in some areas it is barely a few centimetres below the surface.

The government has now start pumping out water from wells and other resources in order to maintain the water table.

"Groundwater level in several parts is rising since 1998 after the city started getting drinking water from the Rajiv Gandhi lift canal. Currently there are many areas in the city with water availability at less than five metres," chief engineer of Ground Water Department (GWD) Updesh Karan Mathur said.

"Primary studies suggest that the water table was disturbed due to double or triple times increase in water inflow from the canal in the Kayalana lake here from where the water is supplied to the entire city," Mathur said.

Mathur said that the rise in water table could also be due to the waning practice of using water from traditional sources.

"People stopped using traditional water resources after the water supply from the canal began, which probably helped in raising the water table," he said.

Experts feel that improper drainage system, leakages in pipe lines, increased water supply and other geographical factors are other reasons behind the problem.

The city is now provided with about 450 lakh gallons of drinking water, which is double the supply some 10-12 years ago, a PHED official said.

Speaking about relief measures, PHED chief engineer KM Mathur said, "Around 60 traditional water resources have been identified to pump out excess water as instant relief. We have started pumping out from 24 wells in recent months and would soon start doing so from others.

"Our primary strategy is to pump out excess water, which is not potable, from the city for agricultural purposees and other uses. Between one lakh gallon water is being supplied to the BSF and some gallons for beautification of gardens."

District collector Naveen Mahajan said that experts from National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee and National Geophysical Research Institute, Hydrabad will soon carry out studies to find out the exact reason for the rise in the water table.

Jodhpur Development Authority (JDA) has already stopped giving permissions for digging and construction of basements.

"We are not giving permission for basements in the city and adjoining areas since February this year as a part of an action plan to control the dangerous situation," JDA commissioner Gaurav Goyal said adding a review of the decision will be taken after reviewing study results, which are expected next year.

"It is like a terror situation for us because half of the city can collapse with a slight tremor as building foundations are weakening," local shopkeeper Harish Kumar said.

"I have installed five machines to pump out water from my shop's basement and they are working constantly. I get four to five feet of water if I stop the machines for a day," he claimed.

The locals said water was seeping into the basements of their houses for the last two to three years, but the speed has increased in the past few months.

An official source said that while 203 out of the 236 blocks were labelled as safe in 1984, only 30 blocks have been found safe in 2008.

A block is categorised as safe if the groundwater level is maintained and its extraction is around 70 per cent.

Most of these safe blocks are only in a few districts like Banswara, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh where the level is maintained due to water logging in some canal areas.