Groundwater level dips in Vizianagaram

VIZIANAGARAM: Groundwater levels continue to plummet in Vizianagaram district despite Cyclone Fani alleviating the drought-like situation. However, it is marginally better when compared with the groundwater levels in May, last year.

Sources in the groundwater department of Vizianagaram said, Cyclone Fani may have arrested the rate of fall to some extent.

sWhile between November 2018 to April 2019 the water table fell by two meters in almost all the mandals, in the last one month the fall has been marginal, although the fall has not stopped, they said.

There are 45 Piezometers in all the 34 mandals of the district and as per the latest comparative data, the fall in groundwater levels could have been far worse.

Echoing the same, B Ramana Murthy assistant director of the groundwater department said, “The latest data show that the rate of fall has been checked to some extent, probably because of the cyclone, but mainly because of lack of usage during summer as the crop area has fallen... However, groundwater levels continue to fall. A lot will, however, depend on the monsoon this year for water tables to be replenished.”

He further added that the number of borewells for irrigation purpose are rising every year, apart from the existing 4,000 borewells under the NTR Jala Siri scheme. Ramana Murthy said, “This could put immense pressure on groundwater levels.”

Regarding the worst hit areas in the district, sources pointed out that the worst hit was Vizianagaram, where the water table has been depleting at an alarming rate, from 4.89 in April to 7.69 in May. In comparison, they said that water levels were at 2.8 metres, resulting in a fall of over 4.8 metres.