A number of defunct borewells dug by private players remain as death traps for people, especially gullible children in the drought-prone Prakasam district, as the dryspell for the third consecutive year has led to proliferation of unauthorised ones.
More than 1.20 lakh borewells have been sunk in the district with a higher concentration in the western parts. At least half of them have dried up as ryots go for even three to four borewells in a frantic bid to provide life-saving irrigation to fast withering crops with the groundwater table dipping to over 600 ft. to 700 ft. especially in the Markapur division.
Guidelines violated
Over 50,000 defunct bore wells pose a grave threat to people, especially unsuspecting children as the wells remain uncapped in violation of the guidelines evolved by the State government following enactment of the AP Water, Land and Trees Act to prevent indiscriminate tapping of the natural resources.
Permission from the tahsildar concerned is necessary to dig wells and borewells, says a functionary of a non-governmental organisation working for conservation of natural resources in the Maddipadu area.
But this is followed more in breach than in observance as the authorities do not pay enough attention to regulate them, says Volunteer Environment Organisation chairman G.Veerabhadrachari.
Banned in 126 villages
To stop the overexploitation of water, the Ground Water Department has clamped a ban on sinking of bore wells in 126 villages spread across 13 mandals in the district, says its Deputy Director G.Nagamalleswara Rao.
All the bore wells sunk by the district administration are capped.
But most of those sunk by private players are left uncovered. There are instances of ryots keeping them open, especially during the rainy season, for the rain water to percolate.
While conducting regular checks, they seize machinery used for sinking borewells unauthorisedly in the mandal’s jurisdiction, S.N.Padu’s MRO, R. Prabhakar, says and calls for a vigil by the community at large for better results.
