Hubballi: Is the time ripe to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in rural areas like the stringent measures adopted in metropolitan cities?
Several experts support the idea as underground water has depleted considerably in several parts of North Karnataka. It has become common for rural people to raise a hue and cry for adequate supply of drinking water during summer as borewells have become defunct or have high fluoride content. Experts feel the government should promote community participation on a larger scale, construct agriculture ponds and other water recharge structures by making them compulsory in rural areas.
The underground water table has receded up to 600-feet in Mundaragi, Ron and several parts of Gadag, the home district of rural development and panchayat raj minister H.K. Patil. Distraught with recurring drought, the farmers incur more than Rs 1 lakh to dig a borewell by taking loans. Many desperate farmers have ended their lives in the region after they failed to get adequate water. Many rural people depend on water supplied through tankers by the administration as lakes dry up during summer every year.
There is lack of proper awareness among the rural masses about the need to increase the water table during monsoons as they feel it is purely the government’s job. “We have recharged more than 400 borewells this year by convincing the farmers in Gadag, Haveri and Dharwad district. Therefore, it is indispensable to make underground water recharging compulsory by offering subsidies to farmers,” said Sikandar Meeranayak, the chief executive officer of Sankalpa Rural Development Society, an NGO working for rainwater harvesting.
