Thiruvananthapuram: Well-diggers strike gold in summer

Thiruvananthapuram: Well-diggers are having a field day in the city and nearby areas thanks to the drought and water rationing. Like tanker lorry drivers, the well-diggers are in high demand as the people look for every source of water to meet their daily needs, especially those living in elevated areas.

S. Ratheesh, 34,  of Ratheesh Ring Works based at Kalady near Karamana here, has been unable to meet the huge demand. In the last three months alone, his workers have dug more than 70 wells, mostly in city limits.

Despite the KWA calling off the rationing temporarily, majority of the elevated areas in Jawahar Nagar, Kaudiar and Ambalammukku are yet to get normal water supply. Ratheesh digs 150 – 200 wells every year, but this summer he doesn’t  have stock of well rings.

“When demonetisation was enforced, the business was bleak, but by January, the situation changed. My workers are deployed at three to four sites simultaneously,”  he said.

Digging a well is ideal during the summer season as the water level will not deplete even during severe drought. Ratheesh has been digging wells of all sizes – 3.25 feet (Rs 1,000 – Rs 1,400/ring), four feet (Rs 1,400 – Rs 1,800/ring), five feet (Rs 2,500 – Rs 3,000/ring) and six feet (Rs 3,500 – Rs 4,000/ring).

Though Ratheesh has five well-diggers and another 10 labourers to make rings, he has found it difficult to meet the demand. “During summer, we have to dig an extra 10 feet to 15 feet down. So it is additional labour. But with drinking water scarcity, the demand has been going up. I had to   give one of my orders for a six-feet well  at Arumanoor, near Poovar, to one of my uncles who’s also in the same business,” added Ratheesh.

His uncle Rajendran, 58,   says that earlier people residing at Jawahar Nagar, Pandits Colony, Kaudiar,  Ambalammukku and Peroorkada never thought of digging a well.  

“In the last one month alone, I have dug more than 20 wells within the city limits. Now, my 25 labourers are working simultaneously at five different sites and more queries are coming in,”  said Rajendran, a resident of Kumarichantha near Poonthura.

Borewells dug in unused wells

Wells in many areas in the city have gone bone dry and the people dig further down to extract water. Sometimes, they construct borewells in the wells which is not prohibited, though there are restrictions in some parts in the state. Well-diggers like S. Ratheesh are busy attending to the call of the people not only to  dig wells, but also to clean the unused ones.

In places where water level is depleting, the well-diggers have found an alternative to cut down the costs towards placing more well rings deeper down. Ratheesh told DC that people have started enquiring on extracting more water during the  summer.

“Since well-digging is set as per the number of rings being erected, it is viable to insert a borewell inside an existing well. But I am yet to start doing it,” said Ratheesh.

However, K.S. Madhu, director of State Ground Water Development Cen-tre, told this newspaper that this technique is known as “in-well” which his department does not do. “Currently, there is restriction in digging borewells in Athiyannoor in Thiruvananthapuram, Malamapuzha and Kasargod regions. There is no restriction in the  city to dig borewells. Our officials will visit the site and do the survey. Accordingly, licence will be issued,” said Madhu.

In February, the government asked all collectors not to permit construction of borewells till May 31. The government told  the collectors to invoke the relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act to enforce the decision which has since been revoked except in certain areas.