NGOs launch initiative to recharge 10,000 borewells in Hyderabad

The Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour (SAHE), a not for profit organisation, on Friday announced an initiative to recharge 10,000 defunct or dried up borewells in Hyderabad.

The initiative is supported by HYSEA (Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association), an apex body of more than 300 IT companies in Hyderabad.

The work can be executed in four hours by a local plumber and will cost less than Rs.15,000 for each borewell, said experts from SAHE.

SAHE's aim is to recharge 10,000 borewells before the onset of monsoon. It promises that this will show result in some cases this year but surely by next summer.

Samran, Car Free Day, One Lakh Hands, Solus Media, 5MNT and Green Habitat are the other partners in the novel initiative.

Hyderabad has nearly 25 lakh borewells. Half of the city's water requirement is drawn from borewells but 50 percent of these are defunct or dried up.

SAHE experts have drawn a design for recharge, which can be accessed on its website www.saheindia.org

The owners can execute the work on their own but can get consultation from the organisation free of cost.

SAHE members Ramesh Loganathan and Viiveck Verma told reporters on Friday that the design drawn was proven and many countries have tried this model to charge up borewells. This doesn't involve any digging, breaking of walls, construction and is cost-effective, they claimed.

SAHE, doing social impact activities, conceived the idea in conversation with 'Smaran', an NGO working for water and soil conservation.

G. Sudarshan, a former regional director at the Central Ground Water Board, said water is no longer a source but a commodity. While the earth has an abundance of water, only about 0.3 percent is usable by humans and by the year 2050, availability of water for human consumption and requirement by human beings will be more or less the same.

He urged people to harvest rainwater or recharge borewells.

--IANS

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