OPEN WELL VISIT OF YAMALUR WATERSHED

The open wells are important structures to understand the ground water of any place for that matter. One can actually connect between the ground water to the surface through the means of open wells. Today, in the time where bore wells are dominating for the extraction of ground water, not many appreciate the importance of an open well. Many wells in the city today are dry but a few wells near Rayasandra kere of Yamalur watershed still yield water and have been maintained beautifully. One of the important tasks in mapping the aquifer of a watershed is to understand the past of that aquifer and this can be achieved by thoroughly studying the open wells of that area. About 21 wells have been identified in Yamalur watershed off Sarjapura road out of which only 2 are yielding. It is important to understand why the other wells have gone dry and what it takes to restore the wells which are not yielding. These dry wells are prone for permanent shut down and due to this, it is important to identify, conserve and restore them. 

A visit to these 21 wells identified in Yamalur watershed off Sarjapura road has been planned on Thursday, 16-7-2015. The schedule for the same is mentioned below.

9:00 – Reach Doddakannelli kere and visit 2 wells around it.

 

9:30 – Leave for Halanayakanahalli kere

9:45 – Visit 2 wells around Halanayakanahalli kere

10:15 – Leave for Hadosiddapura kere

10:30 – Visit 2 wells around Hadosiddapura kere (One needs to walk a bit to reach the wells from the car parking spot)

11:15 – Leave for Rayasandra kere

11:45 – Visit 3 wells around Rayasandra kere

12:15 – Leave for Choodasandra kere

12:30 – Reach Choodasandra kere and visit 2 wells around it

13:00 – Leave for lunch near Kaikondrahalli kere

14:00 – Leave for Chikka kudlu kere

14:15 – Reach Chikka Kudlu kere and visit 4 wells near it.

 

 

15:15 – Leave for Parappana Agrahara kere

15:30 – Reach Parappana Agrahara kere and visit 6 wells around it (One should walk a bit to reach the wells from the car parking spot)

 

The trip would come to an end after visiting the wells of Parappana Agrahara kere. People who are interested are most welcome to join but they have to arrange their own transport. The event, as according to the schedule, will be for the whole day as there are many wells and are spread across a huge area. It is advisable for the participants to wear shoes, bring a cap and water according to their needs.  

My well, Our water: Year End Workshop

Background:

Urban India is grappling with multiple water management challenges. The groundwater abstraction is increasing day by day yet, our understanding of aquifers- logical unit for groundwater management- is very poor. To understand the nature of aquifers, water balance and most importantly demystify the science of groundwater for citizens by taking the learnings back to the citizens; an experiment was initiated in 2014 called Participatory Aquifer Mapping (PAQM) in Yamalur watershed. It’s been a year since the start and we thought it is time to share the learnings to the citizens and experts -who have been supportive throughout this year- to take their feedback and also to know from them on further process.

Agenda:

The agenda therefore was to share the learnings from the project so far and take feedback from different stakeholders as to how to proceed further. This was important to understand as the aim of the project is not to confine within the academic limits but bridge the gap by demystifying the science of groundwater.

Presentations:

The workshop started with P S Narayan, head of Wipro sustainability initiatives sharing his idea behind Wipro technologies partnering with this project and lending financial support for the initiative.

Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni from ACWADAM- project partner for PAQM- initiated the workshop with a presentation giving overview of groundwater aquifers in the country and the need for participation from citizens and governance institutions in collaboration for effective groundwater management. The presentation can be found here: Groundwater overview in India.

Avinash Krishnamurthy from Biome Environmental Trust, elaborated on the groundwater situation in Bengaluru to set the context of the Participatory Aquifer Mapping project (PAQM). The presentation can be found here: Catalysing a social response to manage groundwater.  The presentation highlighted the fact that in absence of formal institutional services, communities themselves be the champions by sustainably managing the groundwater. A community called Rainbow Drive  layout, located off Sarjapur road, has managed to close the water cycle loop by successfully managing the water within their campus.

Shubha Ramachandran from Biome Environmental Trust then elaborated on the process of aquifer mapping by describing the objectives, outcomes and outputs expected, data collection methods  as well as challenges encountered while collecting data. The detailed presentation can be found here: Process of aquifer mapping

The highlight of the event was indeed the citizen stories: Mr. Naganath Iyer from SJR redwoods shared his experience on the story of their borewell, Mr. Manjunath as an estate manager with Rainbow Drive, Mr. K P Singh from Rainbow drive on a layout's effort towards sustainable water management and lastly Mr. Muniyappa, a well digger from bovi community now involved in construction of recharge wells all across Bengaluru. The stories can be found here: People and Groundwater

The last set of presentation was sharing of interpreted results from the first year of the project. This was done by Kaustubh Mahamuni from ACWADAM. The detailed presentation can be found here: Interpretations of aquifer- interim results. The interim results so far show that the rock type in this region is mostly granite-which is of crystalline typology- with hard rock as a major constituent. Based on the geology it shows that the porosity is low in the region and hence recharging will take a long time as it'll only be through fractures and joints. Furthermore, the data shows that the borewells in the region are tapping water from confined aquifers i.e. at deeper depths where again the recharging becomes difficult.   

The presentation above were interspersed with Question and Answers so that a space is provided for interaction. This was moderated by S. Vishwanath from Biome Environmental Trust.

Mr. Ashwin Mahesh, founder of MapUnity and project partner lending support for developing software component of the project also spoke about knowledge sharing as the existing gap in the current urban scenario. The software component is developed with the intent of creating space for all to share their stories, discuss and engage in communication for knowledge development.  

Responses by participants during the workshop:

Prof. Mohan Kumar, IISc: While appreciating the effort of PAQM, he shed light on the journey of water abstraction from open wells to borewells and stated that it is required to move from borewell to dug well! Sharing his thoughts on recharging aquifer through treated waste water, he cautioned that there shouldn’t be direct recharge. The treated water should first be passed through soil barriers as an additional filter and then only after due care the treated water should be disposed into aquifers.

Sharad Lele, ATREE: He touched upon an important aspect in this exercise- what do we consider better groundwater management, how do we define best practice,, how is sustainability and equity addressed in the project? He suggested that these are some of the questions one should be aware of and should flag of normative concerns right in the beginning so that readers and viewers become aware.

CGWB: Dr. Sawkar from CGWB emphasized on the importance of understanding the geology and heterogeniety due to geology so that better knowledge about recharge and discharge can be known.

Mr. Siddaramiaih, KSPCB: Sharing his thoughts on self regulation and managing one’s water he mentioned- Communities like Rainbow drive managing their own water and closing the loop puts less burden on the agencies. Also, a proper cost benefit analysis to elaborate on the strategies of rainbow drive would be useful. Furthermore, he cautioned that recharge of groundwater through treated water should only be done when proper care for removal of nitrates and phosphates is taken.

Rohit Chakravarthy, NCBS: Drawing on his experience of participatory experiences in different sectors like e-bird portal and season watch for documenting birds and monitoring trees, Rohit explained the outreach mechanisms. Season watch and e-bird are two initiatives which call for citizen participation and tapping onto already existing citizen science. He cautioned that the scale and data quality issues are very critical and hence need to be considered.

Dr. Lingaraju, Department of Mines and Geology: Drawing on his experience of working with department of Mines and geology as well as Kumudvathi river rejuvenation project; he elaborated on the necessity of understanding geology. He suggested that obtaining the thematic geomorphology map as well as drainage map is essential as it can help in identifying zones feasible for recharge.

We would like to thank all the participants for sharing their views during and also after the workshop through different channels of communications. We hope to continue this engagement with you all!

My Well Our Water : Press and Presentations

Presentations that were made

1. ACWADAM - Groundwater in India
2. BIOME - Groundwater in Bengaluru
3. BIOME: Aquifer Mapping outputs/outcomes and process
4. ACWADAM - Aquifer Interpretation
5. BIOME - 3 stories

Press coverages

• The Hindu Business Line -  Ground water mapping for Bengaluru recommended
• The Times of India - This well-digger ensures city doesn’t go dry 
• The New Indian Express - Groundwater Levels Could Deplete Drastically in the Coming Years, Say Experts
  
  

My Well Our Water : Schedule for the Workshop

27th June Saturday: My Well Our Water

9:30 - 10:00 : Registrations/Tea

10:00 - 1:30 : Workshop

1:30 onwards lunch

                                             

Time	Description	Presenter
10:00 - 10:10	Introductions and Objective setting	WIPRO
10:10 - 10:20	Larger Context - Groundwater in Urban India	ACWADAM
10:20 - 10:35	Bangalore Context	BIOME
10:35 - 10:45	Q&A	Vishwanath - Anchor
10:45 - 11:05	Project Description	BIOME
11:05 - 11:20	Interpretation of Data and current understanding of groundwater in the area	ACWADAM
11:20 - 11:40	Q&A	Vishwanath - Anchor
11:40 - 11:55	3 Well Stories	Citizens
11:55 - 12:05	Presenting the Software platform	MAPUNITY
12:05 - 1:15	Panel discussion	Vishwanath moderator Panel -IISc, CGWB, NCBS, KSPCB, BWSSB, ATREE
1:15 - 1:30	Conclusions	BIOME - Vishwanath
1:30 onwards	Lunch

My Well Our Water : 27th June Workshop : Introductory Note

My well, our water

Participatory Urban Aquifer Mapping:  Enabling citizens to be scientists, managers and stewards of groundwater

India is rapidly urbanizing.  The number of people living in urban India is expected to grow to around 800 million by 2050.  Urban India is grappling with multiple water management challenges. The dependence on groundwater of urban India and the criticality of groundwater for growth of urban areas is now beginning to be acknowledged in academia and the national discourse on water. However, groundwater as a source has never been a part of formal urban water supply planning.  The management of groundwater as a source for the city – both its quality and quantity – is now becoming increasingly important.  This is true for almost all the diverse kinds and sizes of urban areas in India.  

Currently groundwater abstraction, particularly in the urban context, is atomized.  Combinations of formal and informal openwell, borewell, groundwater and water treatment markets enable citizenry to cope with the inadequacies and shortcomings of formal institutional water supply & sanitation services.  The greatest challenge of groundwater management is therefore the need to embed management responses in the practices of this universe of dispersed actors. Our understanding of Aquifers, the logical “unit” for groundwater management is very poor.  While administrative boundaries help us organize our governance on the surface, aquifers under our feet don’t necessarily follow any of these boundaries.  How, then, do we evolve a way of understanding our aquifers and enabling aquifer management responses based on this understanding?

Bengaluru is a city that is no stranger to the challenges mentioned above.  Infact various parts of Bengaluru are currently completely dependent on private groundwater abstraction & groundwater markets.  It is in one such watershed - the Yamalur Watershed in the south-east of Bengaluru  that we – Biome Environmental Trust & ACWADAM with support from Wipro and Map Unity,  are attempting to explore an approach to help address some of the challenges mentioned above.  

Can the process of developing an understanding of the aquifer – mapping the aquifer – itself be driven by the participation of these dispersed set of groundwater actors?  How can this be done? If such an approach be evolved, can the communication of the science of aquifers & its management to them then lead to forms of self-regulation in longer term self-interest on the part of groundwater users?  And is this a way to achieve aquifer management responses?  What are the services and enabling policy conditions for such an approach to bear fruit?  These are some of the questions this initiative wants to explore.  We invite you, experts in water – but more importantly citizens of the city – to come share your thoughts, experiences and learnings and be a part of this innovative exploration.

We hope to help citizens share the stories of their wells, borewells, lakes, STPs etc with the city.  We hope to strengthen the conversations amongst citizens on these stories, and bring groundwater science and the spirit of public good & common property stewardship into these conversations.  And through this we hope to become a community that thinks not merely of “my well” but “our water”.  

Of course many questions still need answering as the initiative progresses and limitations of the approach may emerge in due course of time.  New questions are also expected to evolve.  Which institution will be the “owner” and “driver” of the approach, how will this institution overcome its capacity limitations and how will this institution engage with civil society to make larger citizen participation a reality are big questions that are clearly still open.  With your participation this innovative exploration hopes to help find answers to these questions and evolve more relevant questions. 

How to a get Topographical sheet from the Survey Of India

An informative blogpost from Sushant Potdar - an intern with BIOME Environmental Trust . Reproduced from
https://sushantpotdar55.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/obtaining-a-topographic-sheet/

Topographic sheets provide valuable data about the area that is being studied. It is one sheet which provides enormous data from natural features to man made structures of that particular area. The topographic sheets find their uses in the field of population, town planning, soil, water, forest, pollution and so on. The body that generates and prints these topographic sheets in India is a government organization known as Survey of India (SoI). It is a very old organization started by the British to survey and prepare maps of India for their use. Its headquarters is situated at Dehradun in Uttarakhand state. But there are many other regional offices all across India to obtain these topographic sheets of a particular area of interest. There are four scales of topographic sheets that can be obtained from SoI. This depends on the study area and the kind of study one wants to carry out. The scales are 1:1,000,000 (1:1M) ; 1:250,000 (1:250K) ; 1:50,000 (1:50K) and 1:25,000 (1:25K). The topographic sheets have proper indexing done by the SoI itself. Thus, it is easy to obtain a  desired topographic sheet from the SoI reference map. The link to that reference map is attached below:

SOI_reference

My study is to map the open wells near Sarjapura road in Bengaluru and in Devarayasamudra in Kolar Dist. Since my study area is comparatively small, I decided to use 1:25,000 scale map. The procedure that I followed in obtaining these topographic sheets are as follows:

1. I first went to the Survey of India website and checked if the topographic sheets of my study area is available or not. This can be done by looking under the “Availability of OSM” section (Here, OSM means Open Street Maps which is a bit larger than topographic sheets. The indexing is different for OSM but can be converted to topographic sheet indexing). Later select the available state under that option and check for availability of OSM.

2. Later, I found out the index of my topographic sheet that I needed. It is important to know this because when you visit the SoI office, the index should be mentioned to the person in charge as it will be easier to find it among many topographic sheets. My study sites lie in topographic sheet numbers 57 H/9 and 57 K/8 respectively. These are index numbers for 1:50,000 scale maps. For 1:25,000 maps, the indexing is further mentioned as NW, NE, SW, SE after the initial 1:50,000 scale index.

For example, 1:1000,000 scale has index number 57 ; 1:250,000 scale has index number 57 A-P ; 1:50,000 scale has index number 57 A-P/1-16 and 1:25,000 scale map has index number 57 A-P/1-16 NW/NE/SW/SE.

3. I found out regional offices of SoI in Bangalore. The office is situated in Koramangala 2nd block on Sarjapura road. The detailed address is given below:

Survey of India Staff Quarters, Koramangala 2B block, Sarjapura road, Bengaluru- 560034

4. I visited the office and went into the map selling room in the campus. It is located just near the entrance gate after entering from Sarjapura road. The necessary topographic sheets were asked but 1:25,000 scale maps were unavailable. Thus, 1:50,000 scale maps were purchased.

5. If the maps are available, then they can be purchased immediately. This costs Rs. 95/- per topographic sheet of 1:50,000 scale. If only the office copy of the topographic sheet is available, then the copy is scanned, printed and given to you. This takes about 2 days and costs Rs. 305/- per topographic sheet. But this cannot be purchased immediately as scanning and printing requires time. A form is supposed to be filled to obtain these sheets mentioning the purpose of use.

6. Once the printing is finished, they call you and inform you to collect the topographic sheets.

7. Once the topographic sheets are obtained, it can be used for the required purpose. In my case I will use it to identify the open wells and study them by locating it on the ground.

Thus, the topographic sheets are of high importance in various fields of study and I have just shared my experience in obtaining these sheets for my study.

Jakkur lake ecosystem and its challenges

There is something unique to the Jakkur lake ecosystem; lake filled with water, a sewage treatment plant (STP) near the lake site which disposes the treated water into the lake helping in maintaining the water balance, a constructed wetland, numerous open wells, fishermen and farming community using the lake for fishing, irrigation, and other domestic uses. Yet, it will be unfair to say it is free of challenges. Understanding the working of this ecosystem, the challenges involved by interacting with the lake group, JalaPoshan, actively involved in conservation activities of the lake was thus the main agenda of visit to Jakkur Lake on Sunday, 19^th April, 2015.

Story of Jakkur Lake:

Jakkur Lake is situated at north eastern part of Bengaluru city with an area of 160 acres. A 10 MLD STP with Upflow Anaerobic Sludge blanket (UASB), a secondary level of treatment, has been set up by BWSSB at the lake site since 2004. Treated water from the STP is supplied to Bangalore International Airport along with allowing it into lake. However, the quantity given to BIAL is not known. The restoration work by BDA, from 2008-10, resulted in bunding of the lake, fencing and setting up of constructed wetland.

Timeline:

Satya Foundation (http://www.satyafoundation.in/program_parisara.php), a charitable trust, working in nature conservation and believing in participatory engagement got associated with Jakkur Lake through their programme on Preservation and Conservation of the Jakkur Lake , “JALA POSHAN - Sustaining Lake restoration” during the BDA restoration work. The engagement with the lake increased multifold when the restoration work was over and sustaining the restored lake became the focus of the group. The programme JaLa Poshan has resulted into official formation of JaLa Poshan group with the responsibility of maintaining the lake in 2014. In October 2014, the lake was officially handed over to BBMP and the process of adoption of lake geared up in the meantime.    

Currently, process of adoption of lake and signing a MoU with BBMP with a 3 year contract is underway. The terms and conditions of the MoU include- infrastructure and security provision by BBMP and regular monitoring and maintenance by JalaPoshan group.

The community:

The village lake earlier was a source of water for farmers staying close by. The lake was a shallow irrigation tank providing water for the fields and the animals as well. It was alsosource of water for more than 50 dhobis. Other activities like washing clothes, fishing used to happen and still happen. During summers, the lake used to naturally dry out and farmers used to de-silt the lake themselves. The silt was a good fertile soil beneficial for farming and was even sold to different areas earning the group of farmers some extra revenue. The fishermen community also helped in desilting work. 

Water quality:

After the lake restoration work was finished, there was no check on the water quality of the lake in the meantime. The in-house laboratory of the STP checks the inlet and outlet water quality at STP level daily. However, since the involvement of JalaPoshan group, once in a week or once in 15 days two people from the group ensure that samples are collected from the lake and get it checked in the lab. The results show that the STP outlet water quality is better than the lake quality. The reason could be attributed to the fact that there are three other inlets, stormwater drains to the lake, which carry sewage along with the rainwater affecting the water quality. 

Though the before the restoration and setting up of STP and after the STP comparison about water quality is not available for this lake, please see this http://www.ijser.org/researchpaper%5CAssessment-of-Surface-Water-Chemistry-of-Jakkur-Lake-Bangalore-Karnataka-India.pdf a study in 2013. The study concludes that the water is suitable for irrigation purposes. However, the direct correlation between establishment of STP and the water quality has not been established so far. The continuous monitoring by the group subsequently would shed more light on this.

The current status:

As of now, limited fishing activity happens in the lake with the fishermen signing a contract with fisheries department and breeding Rohu, Katla, Jalebi fish varieties. The water is being used for washing, irrigation, etc.

The group is currently in the process of adoption of the lake and subsequently working on the conservation plan for the lake. The immediate things to focus have been identified by the group:

• Since the wetland has not been looked after planting, the immediate focus is to engage with experts like Dr. T V Ramachandra from IISc, Bangalore to scientifically understand the steps to be taken.
• The lake is haven for the birds with many species recorded till now by different volunteers. The herpetology survey conducted by Agumbe research center in February 215, also recorded many species of snakes and other reptiles in the vicinity. The results of the survey to understand if any pattern or clear conclusions can be made are yet to be out. Thus, the focus is also on maintaining the biodiversity around the lake.
• Indeed, issues have been identified with the wetland as it hasn’t been harvested and also with STP. Sometimes the STP is not functioning and getting in touch with the STP operator is the way through which they address the issue. Moreover, to understand the inflow characteristics, sewage inflow rate, water balance, water quality, ATREE is initiating a study as well. 

        
        We would like to thank Dr. Annapurna Kamath and members of JalaPoshan group for an enriching experience.

 

STP outlet to the wetland