The Times of India 21.08.2009
CGWB reveals a huge ground water reservoir
LUCKNOW: Call it an irony of sorts. At a time when there is brouhaha over the depleting ground water table, the central ground water board (CGWB) has revealed a huge ground water reservoir hidden deep within the earth's crust. Virtually untapped, the extent of this reservoir in UP alone is estimated to be almost 1,000 billion cubic metre, or more than 10 times of water in country's second largest dam, Bhakra Nangal.
The Bhakra Nangal dam has close to 10 billion cubic metre of water, enough to meet the water requirement of Chattisgarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. It is anybody's guess what the said underground water reservoir, cradled in an area of about 400 metres could do.
Consultant, ministry of water resources, government of India, S K Sharma said that the said reservoir is being continuously recharged from the mountain foothills and vertical percolation. "UP is lucky to have such a huge reservoir of ground water. All one needs is to tap it,'' he said, while talking to TOI on the sidelines of a two-day state level workshop on `Ground Water Management In Uttar Pradesh' organised in the state capital on Thursday. The workshop was organised by the state water resources agency (SWaRa) and state water resources data analysis centre (SWaRDAC).
Sharma said that the reservoir is peculiarly placed below the central Ganga plain which has been stretching over a period of time. The plain comprises vast layers of sand placed one on the other. It is these layers which have the ability to retain huge quantity of water.
The existence of the reservoir gains special attention in the wake of the drought which has hit over 2/3rd area of the state. "The reservoir can be used in crisis management. Even if one is able to tap just 5% of the total water available it would suffice for a major section of population deprived of drinking water, at least,'' he said.
Sharma said that the drilling operations for water are being carried out up to the depth of 125 to 150 metres. "That's where most of the pressure is, resulting in continuous depletion of ground water table,'' he said. Of course, drilling for water up to a limit is there because of the cost consideration. The greater the depth, more the cost of extraction of water. "It is only in the rarest of the rare cases that the drilling is carried out to a depth upto 200 metres,'' Sharma said.
Experts insist that while the deeper layers are being exploited to tap the ground water, the upper layers could be held up for recharging them. Sharma said that the state government should incorporate exploitation of the deeper water reservoirs as part of their ground water policy.
Interestingly, the state government seems to be in no mood to tap the resource. Principal secretary (ground water and minor irrigation) Susheel Kumar said that deeper exploitation of the ground water would cost more. "The cost would have to be passed on to the consumers after all,'' he said. Instead, the state government intends to focus on exploitation of middle layers only.
The Bhakra Nangal dam has close to 10 billion cubic metre of water, enough to meet the water requirement of Chattisgarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. It is anybody's guess what the said underground water reservoir, cradled in an area of about 400 metres could do.
Consultant, ministry of water resources, government of India, S K Sharma said that the said reservoir is being continuously recharged from the mountain foothills and vertical percolation. "UP is lucky to have such a huge reservoir of ground water. All one needs is to tap it,'' he said, while talking to TOI on the sidelines of a two-day state level workshop on `Ground Water Management In Uttar Pradesh' organised in the state capital on Thursday. The workshop was organised by the state water resources agency (SWaRa) and state water resources data analysis centre (SWaRDAC).
Sharma said that the reservoir is peculiarly placed below the central Ganga plain which has been stretching over a period of time. The plain comprises vast layers of sand placed one on the other. It is these layers which have the ability to retain huge quantity of water.
The existence of the reservoir gains special attention in the wake of the drought which has hit over 2/3rd area of the state. "The reservoir can be used in crisis management. Even if one is able to tap just 5% of the total water available it would suffice for a major section of population deprived of drinking water, at least,'' he said.
Sharma said that the drilling operations for water are being carried out up to the depth of 125 to 150 metres. "That's where most of the pressure is, resulting in continuous depletion of ground water table,'' he said. Of course, drilling for water up to a limit is there because of the cost consideration. The greater the depth, more the cost of extraction of water. "It is only in the rarest of the rare cases that the drilling is carried out to a depth upto 200 metres,'' Sharma said.
Experts insist that while the deeper layers are being exploited to tap the ground water, the upper layers could be held up for recharging them. Sharma said that the state government should incorporate exploitation of the deeper water reservoirs as part of their ground water policy.
Interestingly, the state government seems to be in no mood to tap the resource. Principal secretary (ground water and minor irrigation) Susheel Kumar said that deeper exploitation of the ground water would cost more. "The cost would have to be passed on to the consumers after all,'' he said. Instead, the state government intends to focus on exploitation of middle layers only.
