An estimated 270 lakes in and around this City of Pearls have vanished after 1971 and the population has grown from 17 lakh to a whopping 86 lakh. While 100 hours of rain in 100 days is the national average, the statistic for the State capital show, it is just 30 hours in 30 days.
Nearly half of the city’s water requirements are met from underground source because significant volumes of rain water simply go as run-off. Due to the undeniable fact of over-dependence on groundwater, it is said that by 2050, water-availability will be equal to the usage, leaving nothing to spare for the coming generations.
Brooding over these harsh facts, the Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour (SAHE) together with Smaran, a voluntary organisation and the Hyderabad Software Exporters Association (HYSEA) on Friday announced the launch of an initiative titled, ‘Save 10,000 bores’ in the twin cities. Viiveck Verma of the SAHE said that the basic recharge plan meant hiring the services of a plumber for about four hours to restore and recharge a dead/defunct borewell.
Following Bengaluru
Mr. Viiveck Verma and former HYSEA President Ramesh Loganathan explained that the idea for the initiative was conceived at the recently-held TEDxHyderabadSalon, an event focussed on civic responsibility, led by Subhash Reddy of Smaran.
It was not as if it was first-of-its-kind, they said, pointing out that it was already being practised in Bengaluru.
“All that is required is that extra bit of motivation to make those living in independent houses, apartments and in gated communities look at the imminent disaster we are facing,” they chorused.
Central Groundwater Board former regional director G. Sudarshan said that the average level of the groundwater table in Greater Hyderabad was anywhere between 10 meters and 20 metres.
Social media campaign
While in areas close to the Musi river it was around five metres, in places like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills it was between 30 and 40 metres, he observed.
Simply put, the process involves channelising rainwater hitting the rooftops through a four inch pipe into the dwelling’s sump through a filter or directly into the bore.
All it would take they said, was one rainy season to recharge bores.
They said they would take up an intense social media campaign to popularise the concept and motivate people and said the media - be it the electronic or print, could play a pivotal role.
