Naveen Menezes
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (NM)
 
Bantwal, Apr 10: Imagine the plight of a small village from where at least 25 tankers of water are extracted every day. Three families have dug several borewells in this village at Kairangala, Bantwal about 17 km away from Mangalore, only to sell the ground water to various clients including Infosys at Mudipu. This is the unfortunate condition of the villagers here.
 
The residents allege that the three families of Martin D’Souza, Anil D’Souza and Herald D’Souza are the private water suppliers.

“If this family had one borewell in 2008, today the number has increased to eight. Over the years, hundreds of water tankers have been supplied to various clients for money. This is a very serious issue, but nobody is on our side,” says B Shivarama Shetty, a resident of Kairangala.
 
"Several protests, signature campaigns, appeals and opposition from the neighbours to the supply of water and even the submission of a detailed report and memorandum to the DC have turned useless," he says, his voice thick with helplessness and frustration.
 
The residents further allege that the private water suppliers enjoy financial returns and nothing bothers them, and therefore, extraction of water is being done continuously for several years. Due to the over-exploitation of ground water by those whose houses are located geographically below, nearly 100 families whose houses are above suffer the most due to the scarcity of water. The open wells and the old borewells which are about 200 ft deep have dried up and hence the residents are at the receiving end.
 
"The open well in our house has dried. Our family is solely dependent on the water which is supplied by the panchayat and it comes only once in two days," says Jaya Poojary, a 70-year-old resident.
 
"The terrain of Kambalapadavu and neighboring areas were always lush green; however due to the over-exploitation of ground water, the plants have withered away," he adds.
 
Shivarama, who is also a professor at the Mangalore University, said that he has personally approached these three families to inform them about the adverse effects of over-exploiting the ground water. "But sadly, they pay no heed to us," he says.
 
“Ground water is the main source of water for our areas. Increased quantity of extraction of ground water has led to drying up of many of our open wells as well as borewells,” he adds.
 
The alleged family has constructed a water tank of capacity 65,000 litres. The water is filled in the tank from the borewells and is later supplied to the various clients with the help of water tankers.
 
“During the summer season, the number of tankers supplying water is more than 20 and supply decreases during raining season,” said Vasantha, another resident.
 
“It is said that there was a project of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to supply water from the Thumbay vented dam (Netravati) to Infosys, Mudipu. However, the project was stalled after villagers of Fajir protested the proposal of laying a pipeline through the villages. This has further helped the three families in their business,” said Shivarama.
 
Another resident said that the depletion of ground water has led to a drastic decrease in the output of water from a borewell laid by the village panchyath a few years ago. As the open wells dry up early and there is uncertainty over the supply of water provided by the panchayath, few families have dug borewells. However, not many have received a good percentage of water.
 

Ineffective legislation

Although there is a legislation which monitors over-exploitation of ground water, it has been rather ineffective. The Karnataka Ground Water Regulation and Control of Development and Management Act, 2011 has laid down a set of regulations to be followed before digging a borewell, but this is not followed.
 
Parineeta Dandekar, the coordinator of the South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) feels that the government is not serious about it.
 
N J Devaraja Reddy, a hydrogeologist says, “Selling ground water for exchange of money is illegal. People dig borewells under influence, but there are regulations which the officials in the villages do not know about. Over-exploitation leads to irreparable damage to the terrain of ground water. Everyone who wants to dig a borewell needs permission.”
 
When Daijiworld contacted deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim, he said the issue would be looked into and directed the department of mines and geology to check the status.