Students and faculty of Sri Siddhartha University have taken up a social outreach programme with the aim of enriching depleting groundwater levels in drought-hit Tumakuru district. The project will see students and faculty adopt lakes and make rainwater harvesting pits. They have started a pilot project at Heggare and Kumkumnahalli tank in Tumakuru taluk.
The aim of the project, which has been taken up in collaboration with Tumakuru Smart City Ltd., is to find a permanent and sustainable solution.
“There are many lakes in Tumakuru district that are filled with silt. The presence of silt results in reduction of rainwater collection. Sri Siddhartha University decided to adopt a few lakes, and make rainwater harvesting pits so that water will percolate and enhance the groundwater table,” said Vice-Chancellor Balakrishna Shetty.
The project is being carried out under the guidance and cooperation of Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, who also holds the post of Chancellor of the university, and Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, Planning Department.
Social outreach programme coordinator Sateesh C.P. said they have selected a few tanks and lakes in Maraluru, Adaguru, M.H. Patna, Kumkumnahalli, and Heggare. Teams are digging lake rejuvenation pits along the path where rainwater flows into waterbodies. Each pit, with a length and breath of 10 feet each and a depth of 12 feet, will be built at a cost of ₹10,000.
“The digging will be supervised by professors and engineers of Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology,” said Dr. Sateesh. The university has sought inputs from tank rejuvenation expert Sitaram Shetty of Barkur in Udupi district.
The process
At each spot, teams will measure the existing groundwater table before starting the rejuvenation work. Once the pits are dug, groundwater levels will be measured after a period of six months and then one year. If the study shows an improvement in the water levels in wells in the vicinity of the rejuvenating pits, the varsity will extend the scope of the project.
The aim is to prevent evaporation of water and ensure percolation.
“The soil will help increase the rate of percolation, and thereby increase the groundwater table in the long term,” said Dr. Sateesh.
Ms. Rajneesh told The Hindu that the university has got permission for the project from the Minor Irrigation Department. “This is a good initiative and ties in with the Tumakuru Smart City project, under which we have planned to rejuvenate lakes and tanks in the district by removing the obstructions that hinder the flow of rainwater.”
