Dip in groundwater table raises concern in Mys dist

Mysuru: Amid soaring temperature, the sharp decline in groundwater table during this summer has raised concern in Mysuru city and district. The groundwater table had gone down by 12 feet since Jan this year, according to the mines and geology department.

The groundwater, which was recorded at 10.26 metres during this Jan, has declined to 13.97 metres by the second week of April.

The rapid depletion of groundwater table from the last few months owing to lack of rain has posed a big challenge to the district authorities to tackle drinking water crisis.

The groundwater table declined to 9.38 metres in Jan, further slumped to 9.98 metres in Feb and to 10.46 metres in March. In 2023 Jan, the groundwater stood at 7.96 metres, slumped to 9.20 metres in Feb and reached 10.23 metres in March. But this year the groundwater table which recorded 10.38 metres in Jan declined to 13.97 metres, said the sources.

This comes when Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has resorted to alternate day supply of drinking water to its residents in many parts of the city due to dip in yield at its water sources, mainly Kapila and Cauvery rivers.

Though MCC was supplying nearly 330 MLD (million litres per day) of drinking water after pumping from the two rivers daily, but people living on the city’s outskirts, mainly 40 new layouts, still depended on borewells for drinking water. MCC has also hired over 40 private borewells to supply drinking water to its residents in some areas. There are 17,000 borewells across Mysuru district, including over 1,200 in city limits.

Deputy commissioner KV Rajendra, who heads the district groundwater committee, said that the district administration has already issued guidelines to residents to use drinking water judiciously this year owing to water levels plummeting in KRS and Kabini dams, as well as depletion of groundwater table caused by scarcity of rain.

He also said that he had issued guidelines for groundwater consumption by industries, commercial establishments, infrastructure development companies, mining units, entertainment and amusement parks in a bid to regulate use of groundwater.

It is mandatory for industries, commercial establishments, infrastructure development agencies, miners, agriculture, horticulture, drinking water, entertainment sector and the like, located in the city and districts for other purposes to obtain a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from competent authorities for the use of groundwater. Action will be taken against unregistered and unauthorised borewell riggers, if they are found illegally digging borewells in any part of Mysuru district, he said.

With groundwater levels depleting by the day to alarming proportions due to indiscreet use of groundwater, people were asked to self-regulate use of groundwater and look at alternative means of water sourcing such as rainwater harvesting and recharge of groundwater.

For farming, the district administration advocated farmers to adopt water feeding methods such as drip or sprinkler irrigation. Other users such as industries, entertainment parks, were advised to set up rainwater harvesting systems, water treatment plants, waste water recycling plants to meet their needs, he said.