'Recharge wells' seem to be an alien word for many corporators in areas where ground water has depleted to alarming levels.

Although a few private layouts in the new BBMP areas have constructed recharge wells, a majority of the population is yet to get the idea.

Environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy said civic agencies do not have a record on the number of borewells and wells dug in the City. "Ground water, especially in the outer Bangalore regions, has been exploited to the hilt. The only solution to recharge such borewells would be to create enough recharge wells," he said.

The areas where water gets stored must be identified and all the existing borewells and open wells must be protected so that the rain water flows into them. These existing wells can be natural recharge wells.

Yellappa Reddy said it is the duty of the BBMP Commissioner and Mayor to take initiative in addressing ground water depletion and encourage people to protect existing wells. According to a rough estimation, there are nearly 2.25 lakh borewells in Karnataka and only 25,000 of them belong to civic agencies. Flowing water is found in the aquifer layer, a weatherd rock surface beneath the earth. Below this is the hard rock area where static water is found. A Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) study has revealed that water level has dried up to the acquifer level in K R Puram and Whitefield.

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