‘Ridge to Valley Treatment’ best option to recharge groundwater
| Date :23-May-2019 |
By Kaushik Bhattacharya;
State Government initiated the project in some villages of Hingna and Mauda tehsils
Following the success stories of ‘Jalayukta Shivar’ in Maharashtra, the State Government has come forward with a new technique that will help to increase the groundwater level in rural areas. The technique which depends on two concepts that is ‘Ridge to Valley Treatment’ and ‘Trap the Rains Where it Falls’, getting output in different villages of Mauda and Hingna tehsils. Sandeep Shirkhedkar, a Civil Engineer and one of the innovators of this technique, shared the details with ‘The Hitavada’ about the project that implemented by the State Government to restore groundwater level in Nagpur district.
“The rainfall intensity in Nagpur increasing every year and the annual rainfall remains the same. However, the soil is not capable to suck the excess rain water and store it. Therefore, water directly goes to sea without recharging the groundwater level,” explained Shirkhedkar. “Jalayukta Shivar is a revolutionary project of the State Government but our project is more cost effective and increases the ground water level in a short period,” he added. Briefly explaining the project, Shirkhedkar said, “In the process, we create ponds in nullahas throughout the stretch which can hold rainwater for long period.
It gets enough time to percolate water and increase the groundwater level. We also dug trenches on both sides of a nullaha which also help to percolate water.” Shirkhedkar and his team worked on this project first at Junewari village in Hingna where they helped increase the water-level. After the success story, Shirkhedkar approached Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule who appreciated it and gave a green signal to the project to be started in some other villages of Hingna and Mauda tehsils. Shirkhedkar and his team are currently working at Nisadkheda and Chacher villages of Mauda.
The State Government is providing excavation equipment and personnel while the fund they are getting from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). They are expecting to get more work from other parts of Maharashtra soon. “We have to increase the holding capacity of our natural reservoirs in the district to recharge ground water level. Otherwise Nagpur have to face sever water crisis in near future. Every citizen should come forward to contribute to increase groundwater level for our own better future,” said Shirkhedkar.