The 50 Wells of Electronic City

About Electronic City

Image 1: The area covered by Electronic City 

Electronic City is the IT hub of Bengaluru. It is divided into 4 phases or zones that stretch across an area of 800 acres between Konappan Agrahara and Doddathogur village — making it one of the

largest IT parks in the country.

It was established in 1978 by Kenoics. In 1997, Kenoics passed down its local governance and managerial responsibility to the Electronic City Industries Association (ELCIA). 

In 2013, it was declared an industrial township where ‘all services related to estate maintenance, safety, waste management within the township jurisdiction, will be the responsibility of Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA).’

About the Project

This blog documents the ongoing rainwater harvesting (RWH) initiative taken by ELCITA to dig 50 recharge wells in Electronic City Phase 1. 

The sibling well-diggers, Yellappa & Muniappa, have been carrying out the project as per the direction of ELCITA.

Image 2: This is an Old Recharge Structure where a bore has been dug next to an existing recharge well

       

          Image 3: NRC with easily openable doors Indra Nagar Main Road

These recharge structures are of two kinds, where a: 

1. bore has been dug next to an existing recharge well (Old Recharge Structures-ORS)

2. bore is dug inside the recharge well (New Recharge Structures-NRS)

The NRS can be differentiated from the ORS as they have openable iron doors.

The diagram below shows the structure and mechanism of the NRS:

 

Image 4: Longitudinal view of newly dug well

The well-diggers note that the bores are used for recharging rainwater and not extracting groundwater. They said that the recharge rates of the wells have not been tested.

So far 19 out of the 50 estimated wells have been dug in three different locations of Electronic City Phase 1. They are:

I. Indra Nagar Pavement

Image 5: Some of the NRS  that have been dug between 2021-22. 

The image below shows that rainwater flows from the Indira Nagar Main Road into the drain (through a drain in the pavement) and then into the recharge well for percolation. 

II. ELCITA Office:

Image 10: ELCITA office

The ELCITA office has a rooftop RWH system. The rainwater from the roof is directed into two recharge pits of 3-feet diameter, 10-feet depth, and of 2000 liters capacity. 

Image 11: Recharge pit 1 in the ELCITA premises

Image 12: Recharge pit 2 in the ELCITA premises

3. Karnataka State Small Industries Development Complex (KSSIDC) 

Image 7: The entrance to the KSSID Complex                                    

Many recharge structures are being dug in different parts of the KSSIDC property — which are still in the rudimentary stage of construction.