Chitradurga: Around 50 borewells have been dug in 1 acre of land in the drought-hit Singapur village in Chitradurga by farmers.
The farmers came out with this solution in a bid to tackle drought and save arecanut and other crops.
The borewells which are all unauthorised were dug in the groundwater-rich gomala, about 4 km from the village. More than 40 borewells are yielding a good 2 to 3 inches of water.
Each farmer is said to have spent Rs 5 Lakh to Rs 10 Lakh to sink borewells, fix casing pipes, get power connection to the motor pump and lay a pipeline from gomala to their fields.
A farmer named Shivanna has been tilling the gomala, located on the border of Singapur and Todaranalu, for the past 8 to 10 years. In the summer of 2018, he drilled a borewell, which yielded a good volume of water. This drew the attention of the water-starved villagers to groundwater-rich gomala, and a few farmers went ahead and sunk the borewells on gomala. Soon the rest followed suit.
“In 2018 summer, there were five borewells on gomala. The borewells yielded water even during the peak of summer. It is a miracle to see water in all borewells (close to 50) sunk on a tad over one acre of gomala,” said Ajjappa, a farmer.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, a farmer named B Gurushantappa said, “The farmers in the region were reeling under severe drought. The borewells sunk in the fields have dried. Arecanut crop on 4 acres has wilted. Most of us are knee-deep in debts. Last year, I had saved the crop spending hefty sum for tanker water. But the borewell water from gomala has come handy for many farmers this time.”
