On one hand Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is emphasising on roof-top water harvesting system in all the premises in city, while on the other, the Environment Status Report (ESR 19-20) prepared by CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) revealed that lack of proper ground water recharge and high extraction is causing the depletion of ground water level in city. As per the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the net annual ground water availability of Nagpur (urban and rural) is 6498.86 ham/year.

 

Groundwater-level readings were taken from the Ground Water Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) Nagpur, which had three monitoring wells in Bahadura, Bokhara and Makardhokara around Nagpur (urban and rural). Further, the extraction pattern of ground water during the non-monsoon period was also studied to understand the trend. According to the report, during the lean period which is from January to May, there is an increasing trend in extraction of ground water from 1990-2019. The data shows that the extraction at all three places has shown a low positive trend in last three decades. It means, the excess rainfall in the region failed to increase the groundwater level in all three wells. The report said, “Due to the changes in the precipitation and temperature pattern to maintain the agricultural produce, the tapping of ground water is one the most important methods for bridging this gap.” For groundwater level versus rainfall, study shows a low negative trend correlation at all study sites.

 

This indicates that even if the rainfall is high, the ground water-level decreases. No proper ground water recharge and high extraction are the main reasons behind low groundwater level. For groundwater level versus temperature, the variance in groundwater level cannot be significantly correlated to temperature for either urban or rural areas. “The traditional wells in city are the best options to re-generate ground water table. More than 50 per cent traditional wells in city are abandoned or contaminated. The civic body must concentrate on restoration of all 666 traditional wells which comes under the city limits,” said Dr Atya Kapley, Senior Principal Scientist and Environmental Biotechnology And Genomics Division, CSIR-NEERI while talking to ‘The Hitavada’. “Development with environment management is need of the hour and smart urban planning for water conservation will help to re-generate the ground water level of the city,” Dr Kapley added.