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Chitradurga : Faced with rainfall deficit, falling groundwater levels and drinking water shortages, the Chitradurga zilla panchayat has drawn up plans to recharge at least 1,000 defunct borewells and construct 10,000 new farm ponds to strengthen water security across the district. A list of more than 400 lakes has been prepared, including 166 under the minor irrigation department and 239 under the ZP’s jurisdiction. The district has already constructed 22,991 farm ponds. The agriculture department has now been asked to facilitate construction of at least 10,000 additional ponds within a month to help farmers conserve rainwater and improve water availability for agricultural activities.
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Officials have been instructed to conduct regular field inspections to ensure the quality and long-term durability of the recharge structures,” Akash said. The initiative aims to improve groundwater availability and support small and marginal farmers dependent on scarce water resources. The ZP has directed officials to identify defunct borewells across the district and install groundwater recharge units at GPS-mapped locations using latitude and longitude coordinates. ZP chief executive officer S Akash, who chaired a meeting of the district water and sanitation mission committee, instructed officials to prioritise groundwater recharge works and ensure their timely completion. To ensure quality and durability, teams have been asked to conduct regular field inspections. Akash directed the executive engineer of the rural drinking water and sanitation department and ZP deputy secretaries to undertake field visits three days a week. Special focus has been placed on Hiriyur and Holalkere taluks, where a large number of recharge units have been installed. Officials have also been directed to remove silt and accumulated soil from existing units through gram panchayats wherever blockages have reduced water absorption capacity. The ZP aims to achieve the prescribed targets within the next two to three months and submit progress reports. The ZP has also taken up rejuvenation of water bodies to strengthen the district’s water resources. Desilting and bund construction are being taken up under MGNREGA . Through groundwater recharge, farm pond construction and lake rejuvenation, the ZP aims to improve water conservation, ease drinking water shortages in rural areas and provide greater support to small and marginal farmers. Focus on farm ponds The district has around three lakh farmer families, of whom nearly two lakh are small and marginal farmers. The ZP plans to identify around one lakh marginal farmers owning less than one hectare and prioritise them for farm pond construction. Under the VB-G RAM G scheme, officials have been instructed to prioritise individual beneficiary works and accelerate farm pond construction by fixing targets for each gram panchayat and taluk. “Our primary objective is to establish groundwater recharge units at defunct borewells across the district using GPS coordinates. Download the TOI App.