Nirmala Thormote, vice-president of the Sinhgad College Parisar Sajag Nagrik Manch Kruti Samiti in Ambegaon Budruk, said, “The four borewells in our society were enough to fill about two tankers [of 10,000 litres capacity each] daily about a month ago.Their output has, however, reduced drastically to barely one tanker daily now.” She said even water tanker operators in the area were struggling to obtain an adequate supply from borewells.
Upendra Dhonde, a scientist working with the Central Groundwater Board, told TOI, “My borewell in Ravet has dried up too. Last year, at least 15-20 new borewells were dug up in the area, following which the output of my borewell suddenly dropped from 20 minutes of uninterrupted water supply to just two minutes of continuous supply before completely drying up.”
Ankush Shinde, the proprietor of a groundwater detection firm, said, “During my recent visit to Rahatani near Pimpri, I observed a significant drop in the depth of the water table, at 125 feet, as compared to 100 feet a few months back.”
Nilesh Palsokar, a member of the management committee of Whispering Wind Phase-2 on Baner Pashan Link Road, said, “Our society of 106 flats gets water supply from the civic body and two inhouse functional borewells. Till last year, this arrangement was enough to meet the water demands of the society residents. This year, however, the borewells’ water output has dropped considerably.”
Jagdish Kalyan Ramdasi, chairman, Blossom N’ Springs society with 124 flats, said, “Of the two borewells in the society, one has completely dried up, while the output of other is on the decline.”
Rupendra Sandhir of Vimannagar said, “The borewell in our sicuety continues to function effectively due to our implementation of rainwater harvesting system.”
Water expert Col Shashikant Dalvi said, “Rainwater harvesting is key to replenish groundwater.”
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