Kattippara to recharge precious groundwater

KOZHIKODE: The Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (KRWSA) has successfully implemented a scheme to recharge groundwater in Kattippara grama panchayat in Kozhikode district. Mr Shajan Jacob, water conservation specialist, said that Jalanidhi project was adopted in the area where 64 beneficiaries proposed to make use of the existing open well located in a valley as community drinking water source. It was revived through the ground water recharge (GWR) intervention. A new pump was installed in the open well and a sub-surface barrier was constructed across the narrow valley floor, four metres downstream of the well.

It has a length of 18 metres and connects the hillslopes on either side. The barrier was made of RCC at a depth of 1.85 metres below ground level. The top 0.50 m is cut off and filled with dug-out earth so that ground and surface water is allowed to overflow the barrier, thereby preventing any water-logging in the valley. The bottom part rests on rock. Low-density poly-ethylene film is usually used for the barrier, but due to the presence of boulders, it was changed to RCC. The Rs 1 lakh project was completed in September this year.

To assess the efficacy of the project, two small shallow tube wells were installed in the upstream and downstream areas of SSB to observe the depth of ground water level. On November 19, it was found that the water level in the downstream area of SSB had gone up by 0.15 m in one month. It is hoped that the success of such effective GWR interventions in the rocky terrains of Kattippara would help the Jalanidhi project to take up more ground water recharge measures. The public should be made aware of the need to save every drop of water, Mr Shajan added.