HUBBALLI: In the last 15 years, Ashok Meti, a 53-years old farmer from Koppal district, was fruitless in getting water despite digging borewells a whopping 150 times. Finally, his herculean efforts paid off last week when he finally hit the waterhole.
Ashok's success was nothing less than any festivity for the joint family living in Kuthaganahalli village. In the last one week, they have got four borewells and the family think their efforts of one and half decades have finally been fruitful.
"We tried everything in the last 15 years to get water. We used machinery and even traditional methods to find the water point but in vain. We even performed poojas on the site. Finally the jinx was broken last week after one of the borewells after digging 3 inches found water," Ashok Meti said.
"We only grow rain-dependent crops and a few years ago we made a pond. There is a borewell near our house which is about a mile from the field. Before we hit the water, we used a long pipeline system from the pond for the water. We are now planning to expand and experiment farming as we have the borewell now," he said.
Several areas in Koppal district are water parched and the underground water table is sometimes too deep. The experts feel that for the last two years the region has received good rainfall increasing the underground water. "This could have been the reason for the farmer getting water in the borewell," said a hydrological expert.
"Meti did not stop digging borewells when he failed and went on trying. The family has 24 acres of land and the new borewells may help them to grow better crops," said a villager from Kuthaganahalli