Good rains boost water table

July 04, 2013 03:25 pm | Updated 03:25 pm IST - ADILABAD

A tribal couple fetches drinking water from an open well as ground water gets recharged quickly at Ushegaon in Adilabad district. Photo: S. Harpal Singh

A tribal couple fetches drinking water from an open well as ground water gets recharged quickly at Ushegaon in Adilabad district. Photo: S. Harpal Singh

The good beginning to the monsoon has not only brought cheer to farmers in Adilabad but also given much relief to the administration by way of quick recharge of groundwater. “The administration only needs to keep a check on sanitation in rural areas so that there is no outbreak of an epidemic,” opines a doctor from the agency area while warning against any complacency on the part of authorities.

Unlike in the past several years, rains arrived in the beginning of June and the intensity helped in the quick recovery of groundwater levels across the district. Against an average depth of 9.75 metres and 11.71 metres, over which water was available in the ground in June 2001 and 2012, the level has climbed up to 7.85 metres for the corresponding period.

The recharge of groundwater is visible from the fact that tribal people are able to draw drinking water from open wells, the main source in many habitations in tribal areas. Also, unlike the trend in the previous years, water in open sources is free of contamination so far, which comes as a feel good factor for the administration.

Records of the last several years reveal that the district, especially the tribal mandals, get caught in the grip of seasonal diseases right from the start of the monsoon. The number of deaths each year, mostly of tribal people is usually in the vicinity of 200.

“The break in the routine of timing of rainfall has resulted in the control of seasonal diseases like diarrhoea. Owing to frequent spells of rain, there is no stagnation of water anywhere,” said K. Tirupati of the water testing laboratory at Zilla Parishad office.

Close to 400 samples of drinking water from as many sources, particularly from epidemic prone mandals from across the district were subjected to bacteriological tests during June. Not even one sample tested positive for contamination.

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