MCD to use dried borewells in parks to recharge groundwater

DELHI RECEIVES 617-670MM OF AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL WHICH CAN BE USED TO RECHARGE GROUNDWATER

NEW DELHI: The defunct borewells located in Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s 258 parks will be used to recharge groundwater, senior horticulture department officials said.

“We are identifying parks where groundwater has gone down, and borewells are lying defunct. We will create recharge zones in the form of 5-6 ft deep pits to capture runoff water from the catchment areas of these parks,” a senior official from horticulture department said. Each pit will be filled with natural filtering mediums such as pebbles and charcoal to ensure that water is cleaned before reaching the ground through the borewells,” said a department official who asked not to be named.

He added that a detailed report about the recharge zones is being submitted to the LG office.

Water deficient Delhi receives 617-670mm of average annual rainfall which can be used to recharge the depleting ground water resources, experts have said. However, most of it goes waste every monsoon.

A study from Center for Science and Environment “Roadmap for implementation of water sensitive urban design and planning in Delhi” has advocated water harvesting in parks and open spaces in Delhi. According to the report, this will help augment the drainage system and prevent the annual flooding of roads and recharge groundwater table.

Delhi has more than 16,000 parks that are spread across 8,000 hectares, and several other open spaces where storm water harvesting can be implemented with a potential of harvesting 12,800 million litres of rainwater every year, the CSE report said.

Jyoti Sharma who heads

FORCE, an NGO that works in the area of water security, said that it is a good idea to utilise defunct borewells in parks for groundwater recharge, but added that precautions should be taken to ensure that the runoff is property filtered and does not contaminate the groundwater aquifers. “Digging up a borewell is a big expense and it makes sense to use these sites. But the parks in the city offer a larger opportunity, and the plan should be expanded to other locations as well,” Sharma said.

Based on area, geology, groundwater levels, waterlogging hot spots and elevation, the CSE report suggests that the parks located in the South zone and Central municipal zones and NDMC areas are ideal.