Tirunelveli Nature Club

Tirunelveli to tap rainwater to rejuvenate dry wells

Collector V. Vishnu has roped in an international firm for rejuvenating dry open wells and borewells in the district by injecting rainwater into these dry sources of groundwater.

Though agriculture is a predominant profession in the district with the Tamirabharani being the backbone of farming operations of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts, the areas far-off from this perennial river and its irrigation channels have to rely on groundwater for farming activities. As most of these sources of groundwater – open wells and the borewells – become dry in summer, the farmers raising rain-fed crops or horticultural crops for their livelihood are left in a dicey situation.
Hence, the Collector has designed the scheme of enriching dry open wells and deep borewells with rainwater during monsoons.
“We’ve roped in Arcadis, an internationally acclaimed consultancy organisation in infrastructure, environment and water management and having its offices in more than 40 countries. In this venture of nourishing dry wells and borewells, the consultant will provide us the expertise and the infrastructure required for properly using the hitherto wasted rainwater,” Mr. Vishnu says.
In the first phase, the project is to be taken up in Manur and Pappakudi unions, where the entire rainwater flowing via the fields will be filtered and sent into deep borewells and open wells.
“We’ve identified dry open wells and deep borewells belonging to 60 farmers in these blocks, where Arcadis will set up the basic structure for filtering the collected rainwater and sending it to the open wells and borewells. Since this process will be continued for successive monsoon seasons, the groundwater table will improve tremendously in these regions to revive farming operation as a sustainable venture,” Mr. Vishnu says.
Director of Human Resources Development, Arcadis, Anu Subramanian and Director Ashish Prakash too echo the Collector’s views, saying the rainwater hitherto getting wasted would be used judiciously by taking it to the wells supplying water for farming operations.
When a mysterious farm well near Thisaiyanvilai did not overflow even after several thousands cusecs of water discharged from the overflowing Nambiyar dam was allowed to enter the well for several days, a team of professors from IIT Madras was roped in by Mr. Vishnu to inspect the well. The team, after the inspection, opined that the ‘mysterious well’ could be used for improving groundwater table in this region and even for storing huge quantity of water beneath the surface to be used in summer.
“On these lines, we should plan to conserve the rainwater to improve the groundwater level and hence we’ve taken this initiative which will produce desirable results within a couple of years in Maanur and Paappaakudi blocks,” Mr. Vishnu said.

https://nammakarnatakanews.com/ರಾಜಕೀಯ/tirunelveli-to-tap-rainwater-to-rejuvenate-dry-wells/