The groundwater aquifers have started depleting fast causing anxiety to the society and there is an urgent need to derive new aquifer management strategies, said L. Elango, Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai.
He was delivering the inaugural address at the two-day national level conference on ‘Disaster mitigation and management towards sustainable development (DMSD-2015)’ brought up by the Department of Geology of Periyar University, which concluded on Friday. The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India and University Grants Commission, New Delhi.
Dr. Elango pointed out that agriculture in the State is dependent on rain, which is on an average about 855 mm every year. A decade ago borewells came handy for farmers and horticulturalist. Further, he added that research on warning about natural and manmade disasters in advance was necessary.
A. Subburaj, Scientist, Central Ground Water Board, Chennai, said that with the mushrooming of borewells, the water table has gone down and early days local people used to get water at a depth of around 500 to 700 feet. Presently, one has to dig up to 1200 feet to get water in places like Salem and Dharmapuri districts, he lamented.
K. Santhanam, scientist, Sathyabama University, said that with no other economic activity, people are forced to explore new water sources.
R. Palanivel, Dean, CDC, Periyar University, presided and released the abstract volume. S. Anbazhagan, Head of the Department of Geology, offered felicitations.
At the interaction session delegates highlighted the urgent need for high quality infrastructure communication.
At the valediction on Friday, M. Manivel, Emeritus Professor, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchi, stressed the need for protecting all the water sources for recharging the groundwater.
K. Angamuthu, Registrar, Periyar University, delivered the valedictory address.
