The Problem Of Drinking Water Supply In Bundelkhand

Measure of Problem

Out of a total population of approximately 43 lakh (1971 census) in Bundelkhand, over 25 lakh people do not get adequate quantity of water. Except for about half a dozen towns, all the remaining towns as well as over 60 per cent of the 4582 villages of this region suffer from acute scarcity of water. According to an assessment carried out by the Local Self Government Engineering Department, Uttar Pradesh, about six years ago, over Rs. 20 crores was required to tackle the problem of supplying drinking water even to the worst effected villages which number 2700. A fresh assessment is now underway and it would not be surprising if the figure is nearer Rs. 30 crores; the cost would be more now since both the population and the cost of materials and labour have increased since the assessment was last made.

Little had been done-except for a couple of towns-to face the problem, before Independence. In the 25 years since then, while the awareness of the problem was there all the time and some work was also done, it was only in the last decade that planned steps were taken at the instancce of Sri A. K. Roy, Chief Engineer, Local Self Government Engineering De partment to assess the extent of the problem and to execute a few projects towards amelioration of the conditions. As a result, about half a dozen towns and some 400 villages have since been provided with piped drinking water supply facilities; the modest effort continues and by the end of IV Plan a few more towns and another 350 villages are expected to be covered at the present speed of work. The position by the end of IV Plan would thus be that about 2000 out of a total number of 4582 villages would still remain in the grip of severe scarcity of water. Topographical Features

The pace is much too inadequate to

Banda, consists of sparsely-populated, undulating rocky countryside in which surface water is scarce, and little ground water is available. As one moves towards the south, the rocky strata increases in depth and hardness ultimately culminating: in the Vindhya Ranges. Whatever ground water is available, it occurs in the fine inter stices of the decomposed and disintegrated rocks near the surface and in the joint planes of hard fresh rocks. The joints rarely extend to great depth and go on decreasing in width and thus there is little possibility of formation of any continuous acquifer or of free water movement, under: ground. The recharge of water is depen dent on the meagre average 120 m. m annual rainfall, and whatever and where ver seepage is available for the purpose from streams and canals. The nature of the fissures and rocks is such that cons truction of deep wells or deepening of existing wells does not always prove fruit

ful, as the possibility of obtaining water at greater depths goes on diminishing with depth. Large diameter shallow wells in sloping land or depression are considered most suitable in this region for developing ground water resources, wherever such topography is obtained. In some selected areas, hand pumps could also be successfully installed in drilled holes ranging in depth from 25 to 36 meters below ground level. But such areas are few and far between and all these measures cannot obviously touch even the fringe of the problem. The Geological Survey of India were requested by Sri A. K. Roy, Chief Engineer, Local Self Government Engineering Department to survey the area between 1967 and 1969, and they submitted their findings and advice thereafter accor ding to which tubewells cannot be considered feasible. In a couple of holes drilled at great cost, upto 30 metres, no water bearing strata were found. Thus perennial rivers and impounding reservoirs are the only source left.

Source of Water

Starting from the Vindhya range in the south, the surface slope is towards north to north-east and the main rivers of the area such as Betwa, Dhasan, Paisuni and Ken take this direction. These rivers and their tributories have been harnessed for obtain.

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ing water for irrigation purposes also. Bundelkhand, therefore, is dotted with tanks and sagars (where rain water is collected in depressions) and impounding reservoirs constructed by the Irrigation Department. The main inhabited are around these reservoirs. The density per sq. km. ranges from 130 in Jhansi, 137 in Hamirpur, 155 in Banda to 179 in Jalaun, but vast tracts are lying uninhabitated in the first two districts. A number of irrigation dams have been constructed across the river Betwa as well as on its tributories Jamni, Dassan and Pahuj. The water for drinking purposes has to be taken, either from these reservoirs or would need to be pumped direct from the rivers. These rivers, therefore, whether flowing or impounded, are actually the only dependable source of water, which can be tapped to

solve the problem for the southern tract of Bundelkhand. Unfortunately, the situation of these rivers, and topography limit the number of intake points, and also force the Engineer to convey water to long distances by repeated boosting on the way. All this goes to increase the cost of the projects tremendously. The maintenance of such decentralised schemes is both costly and difficult.

In the northern tract of the region, comprising of Jalaun and remaining parts of the other 3 districts-Jhansi, Hamirpur and Banda-the countryside is by and large flat with a layer of alluvial deposit laid down upon the granite floor. The thickness of the layer of alluvial deposit varies from 10 to 28 meters-increasing as one moves further north. The deposit chiefly comprises of clay and kankar, and granites protrude at many places. There is a possibility of encountering water bearing granular zones in this tract, which could be tapped by means of tubewells, yielding moderate quantities of water. So far an yield in the range of 30 gpm to 250 gpm has been tapped in several tubewells. Wherever such tubewells can be bored, the availability of the water makes the solution somewhat easier. But even the construction of a tubewell in Bundelkhand is a costly proposition because of the high cost of drilling a hole in the hard strata. The Geological Survey of India has reported that artesian condition are likely to be met in Hamirpur District but no such well could be struck

so far.

The overall picture in Bundelkhand is, therefore, grim not only in relation to finding requisite resources for drinking water supply schemes, but also for obtaining requisite quantity of water for these schemes. It is, therefore, not very surprising that no significant headway could be possible so far in the face of limited financial resources of the State and the magnitude of the scarcity of drinking water in the State as a whole. Droughts are fairly frequent; the most recent ones being in 1966, 1967 and 1969, when the situation became desperately acute. But even in normal years, water is a commodity which has to be husbanded and used sparingly.