Concern in Mys district is raised by a dip in the groundwater table

Mysuru: Mysuru city and district are concerned about the significant drop in the groundwater table this summer, despite the high temperatures. The Department of Mines and Geology reports that since January of this year, the groundwater table has lowered by 12 feet.

By the second week of April, the groundwater level had dropped from 10.26 meters in January to 13.97 meters.

The lack of rain over the last six months has caused the groundwater table to rapidly decline, making it difficult for the district officials to address the drinking water situation.

In January, the groundwater table dropped to 9.38 meters; in February, it fell to 9.98 meters; and in March, it reached 10.46 meters. The groundwater level was 7.96 meters in January 2023, dropped to 9.20 meters in February, and then increased to 10.23 meters in March. However, the reports said that this year the groundwater table dropped to 13.97 meters from 10.38 meters in January.

This is in response to the decline in yield at the city’s water sources, the Kapila and Cauvery rivers, which forced Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to switch to an alternative daily schedule for supplying drinking water to its citizens in various areas of the city.

Even though MCC was pumping about 330 MLD (million liters per day) of drinking water from the two rivers every day, residents in the city’s periphery—primarily 40 new layouts—continued to rely on borewells for their water supply. In order to provide its people with drinking water in certain regions, MCC has also rented over forty private borewells. The Mysuru district has 17,000 borewells, of which more than 1,200 are located within the city boundaries.

The district administration has already sent out guidelines to residents to use drinking water sparingly this year due to declining water levels in the KRS and Kabini dams and the depletion of the groundwater table due to a lack of rain. Deputy Commissioner KV Rajendra is the head of the district groundwater committee.

In an effort to control groundwater usage, he said, he had set criteria for industries, businesses, infrastructure development firms, mining enterprises, entertainment venues, and amusement parks.

A No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the appropriate authorities is required for the use of groundwater by all industries, commercial establishments, infrastructure development agencies, miners, agriculture, horticulture, drinking water, entertainment sectors, and the like that are situated in the city and districts for other purposes. If unregistered and unlicensed borewell riggers are seen unlawfully excavating borewells in any area of the Mysuru district, they will face consequences, he warned.

People were advised to self-regulate their use of groundwater and consider other water sources, including rainwater collection and groundwater recharging, since groundwater levels were alarmingly low owing to careless groundwater usage.

The district government encouraged farms to use water-feeding techniques like sprinklers or drip irrigation. He recommended other users, such as companies and amusement parks, to put up waste water recycling facilities, water treatment plants, and rainfall collection systems to suit their demands.