ONGC fails to find drinking water in Rajasthan

Petroleum explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's bid to find drinking water under the ONGC Project Saraswati in Jaisalmer area of Rajasthan has failed to make any progress, following heavy salinity in groundwater.

After the drilling, the salinity in the groundwater in Jaisalmer area was close to 3500 milligram per litre which is considered to be very heavy, said Kuldeep Prakash, Group General Manager GGM-head Knowledge Management Group in the ONGC headquarters here. The ONGC project had rekindled a lost hope in the state, which reels under acute water scarcity. A survey had been carried out in western Rajasthan that covered 13 districts under an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Water and Power Consultancy Service (India) Ltd, a government consultant, to identify and delineate broad areas for deep ground water exploration.

The discovery of deep-seated and relatively fresh groundwater under artesian conditions has been reported in the Thar desert, especially close to Munnabao-Khokarapar rail line across the border in Pakistan. In village Jumman Samoo of Pakistan, a 12-inch bore drilled up to depth of 1,224 feet encountered deep layer of aquifers ranging from 1,000 ft to 1,200 ft. In an old well drilled in Lunar village in Rajasthan, not very far from Jumman Samoo, traces of water was found. "But since the salinity in groundwater was very heavy, the project failed to make any progress," said a top ONGC official.