Use of submersible pumps lowers water table in city

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 3

In violation of the norms, rampant use of submersible pumps to draw underground water is being witnessed in the city.

It is one of the major causes of a dwindling water table. These submersible pumps have been installed even in those areas in the cities and the villages, which have a piped water supply facility.

The groundwater level in the border district continues to deplete at an alarming rate due to unregulated and excessive extraction and relentless concretisation of green zones.

At present, groundwater table is receding at the rate of 50 centimetre every year in the city. This is a high time to check the depletion.

Kulwant Singh Ankhi, president of Amritsar Vikas Manch, has demanded imposition of complete ban on drawing underground water through submersible pumps in villages and Amritsar city having the facility of potable drinking water supply by the state government and its agencies.

He elaborated that owing to illegal boring for tubewells, installation of submersible pumps in households, deforestation, lack of rain water harvesting measures and concretization of parks and green zones of the city, the groundwater level has come to such a level.

It should be made mandatory for government, commercial and residential buildings to have functional rain water harvesting system.

Underground water table is depleting with rapid urbanisation, causing stress on natural resources. As a number of localities have mushroomed across the bypasses literally, the city is bursting at the seams.

He said the government is planning to harness water of the Satluj and the the Ravi with capital from an international monetary body to cater to the water needs of the city residents in future. This despite the fact that it will require loads of cash.

On the other hand, the government and its agencies are showing slackness in implementing the norms to check continuous depletion. Besides, less costly measures like rain water harvesting remain non-implemented.

Gallons of rain water go waste when a flood-like situation emerges in the city during the rainy season. As rainwater falling on the roofs of all private and public buildings flows directly to the roads.

The city does not have enough open spaces such as ponds where rainwater can flow. Rainwater in large quantities flows into the sewerage as there is no storm water drainage provision in the city. Sewerage pipes, too, remain blocked due to the garbage and it take hours to clear the road even after mild showers thus throwing the life out of gear in the city.

Another vigilant resident, Gurbhej Singh, said excessive exploitation of groundwater was a fallout of the failure of the authorities in providing water with enough pressure to the residents. This prompted people to resort to installing ‘tullu’ water pumps in the past and submersible borewells in their houses. He said piped water is unable to reach first and second stories.

With this, the rate of groundwater recharge has taken a plunge. This has resulted in a rapidly declining water table. Water is not found at the depth of 180 feet to460 feet. Even the fast depletion of groundwater forced shallow tubewells, used for water extraction, were abandoned.