Davanagere: Scores of borewells in and round Sondekola village in Chitradurga taluk have worn a parched search for the previous few years, with groundwater aquifers working dry within the area. Nevertheless, the state of affairs has altered drastically now, largely owing to the bridge-cum-barrage constructed throughout the Jinagi Halla.
Within the Nineteen Eighties, farmers within the village, a lot of whom have been engaged within the cultivation of arecanut, consulted geologists, and proceeded to dig numerous borewells to feed their land. The truth is, one can discover a borewell for each 100m in Sondekola. Nevertheless, unregulated use of water from these borewells invariably led to their going defunct by the late Nineties. Worse nonetheless was the depletion of groundwater reserves within the area. The farmers who had dug these borewells to feed their areca farms may do little however watch their crops wilt and wither away owing to lack of water.
MLA GH Thippareddy determined to construct a bridge-cum-barrage throughout the Jinagi Halla to retailer the rainwater flowing down from the Chitradurga hills. Unchecked circulate of rainwater from the hills by way of Sondekola was damaging the compound partitions of the Veerabhadra Swamy temple, which was situated on the banks on the stream. “The barrage thus served a two-fold goal: On the one hand, it helped shield the partitions of the temple, whereas the saved water helped recharge the groundwater aquifers within the area. Moreover, the individuals can now cross the stream simply, owing to the bridge,” Thippareddy stated.
Former chief of the Sondikola gram panchayat Ravishankar identified that every one the defunct borewells had sprung again to life. “Farmers are actually pumping water to their land from the borewells as they did earlier,” he added.
Geologist Devaraja Reddy identified that the area obtained 1,500mm rain in 2021, which was significantly above the common quantum of rain that lashes Chitradurga. “The bottom of the barrage at a depth of 14ft is constructed atop weathered granite rock, which aids within the saved water percolating to the groundwater aquifers. Groundwater reserves in not solely Sondikola, however in neighbouring Annehalu and Godabanalu villages have elevated drastically because the building of the barrage,” Reddy stated.