BENGALURU: With less or no water in reservoirs, farmers in Mandya, the heart of Cauvery basin, have resorted to drawing water from borewells. This, however, has resulted in depletion of the groundwater table. An official of Mines and Geology Department said that many of these borewells are illegal.
As per statistics provided by Directorate of Groundwater authorities who work under the Department of Mines and Geology, the groundwater level has receded compared to last year. For instance, in Mandya, the groundwater level was at 6.96m in July 2015 and it has gone down to 11.13m in July 2016.
T Ambika, district officer, Directorate of Ground Water, said that farmers in Mandya are relying on borewells as rainfall has not been sufficient this year and water in reservoirs and canals was also less.
A senior official in the Agriculture Department said that over the past four years, they have noticed a trend of more borewells coming up in the Cauvery basin. “Farmers growing crops like paddy and sugarcane needs water. If they don’t get water from the canals, the next option is to drill borewells,” said the official.
The official added that there are 16 authorised agencies that can drill a borewell in Mandya district. “In August, we booked cases against 22 illegal borewell diggers. Under the Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, a fine of `10,000 can be levied on such offenders,” the official said. Kodihalli Chandrashekar, President of KRRS, said farmers started using borewells in the past few years. “While this is the case in Cauvery basin, the situation is worse in Ramanagara, Magadi, Channapatna and other places,” he said.