Wells and Step-wells

The presentation by ACWADAM deals with Pani Panchayats as a model of groundwater management.

Pani Panchayat is the name first given to a movement by Mr. Vilasrao Salunke for motivating farmers of Naigaon village of the drought-prone Purandhar taluka of Maharashtra in 1974. The government's inability to deal with the drought situation prompted him to take a 40 acre land on lease from the village temple trust and develop a recharge pond in the recharge area of the village, a dug well in the discharge zone and a lift irrigation system.

Farmers got impressed with the results demanding a scale up of the experiment leading to the setting up of Gram Gaurav Pratisthan (GGP) through which the work was expanded to encompass both groundwater and surface water management. 

This paper by the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC) examines the extent of groundwater dependency and quality status in four South Indian cities viz., Hubli, Dharwad, Belgaum and Kolar cities. Widespread water shortage problems have resulted in increased dependency on groundwater with tapping the resources to unsustainable levels. In Karnataka, out of 208 urban local bodies that come under Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, 41 depend on groundwater.

The report by Carewater INREM Foundation deals with groundwater and well water quality in the alluvial aquifers of Central Gujarat. Gujarat has a hydrogeology representative of almost all aquifer types and depositional & formation eras. Contamination of aquifers along with scarcity of groundwater resources due to increase in water demand and reduction in recharge of groundwater from changing landuse, is a problem in Central Gujarat.

The report looks at groundwater quality and presents the results of the chemical analysis of groundwater samples from openwells & borewells of Belgaum district. The study broadly covers these aspects - (i) groundwater quality evaluation of the district (ii) identification of groundwater quality problems in various parts of district (iii) classification of groundwater, and (iv) application of DRASTIC model for assessing the vulnerability to groundwater pollution.

The study attempts to develop an in-depth understanding of the behavior of open wells in the region through sensitivity analysis of the aquifer parameters and its method of pumping test design. The estimation of groundwater balance and flow paths requires appropriate aquifer parameters, representing the study domain.

The study looks at chemical characteristics of groundwater in Jammu and Kathua on the basis of thirty water samples collected from open wells during July and December, 1997. The water quality has been evaluated for irrigation and drinking purposes. The suitability of water for drinking purposes has been compared with the standard norms i.e., BIS, 1983 and WHO, 1984.

Mazhapolima is a community based well recharge programme, initiated by the Thrissur District Administration in collaboration with the Panchayat Raj Institutions in the District, and implemented by networking NGOs/CBOs, households, departments and agencies, research institutions, private sector and all other key stakeholders, who are either a water user or a water provider/planner.

Diversity of approaches and implementation arrangements according to location specific needs centered on sustainable outcome and service levels are the underlying tenets of the programme. The programme envisages recharging of about 4.5 lakh open wells in the district to ensure sustainable access to water.

Use of rain water to recharge quickly the deep under ground water pockets

Present problem:

1. Due to urbanization, many a under ground water recharge/enrichment points have be closed/covered/blocked. So, % of water reaching the underground water pockets is reduced to a very great extent.
2. Bore wells are dug at a very large number to satisfy the increasing demand for water. Therefore, level of underground water table is going down alarmingly.
3. As  many the opportunities for the rain water to reach the underground level is blocked almost at all places, even with a little bit of rain, the water will run on the roads & cause artificial flood or water blocking at different points on roads or low laying areas of the Cities. Such floods are causing a lot of traffic jams/road mishaps.Rain water on the road is also damaging the durability of the TAR roads.

The State sector scheme on artificial recharge to groundwater through dug-wells is under implementation over the first three years of the (current) XI Plan Period (2007-12), in 1180 over-exploited, critical and semi-critical blocks/ talukas/ mandals in seven states of the hard-rock peninsular region of India, namely Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The target beneficiary of the scheme are farmers who have privately owned wells, in their agricultural land.

THE WELLS of Kalawad village in Junagadh district, Gujarat brim with water. The reason — construction of check dams by a peasant, Mr.