Drilling begins for water in ravaged, arid Kutch

Drilling begins for water in ravaged, arid Kutch
VEESHAL BAKSHI

NEW DELHI, MARCH 8: Satellite pictures after the Gujarat quake had revealed water in Kutch but scientists were sceptical. Now based on analysis of water found in craters created by the tremor, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has begun drilling for potable water along the border with Pakistan.

If the search turns out to be successful, it would be a major boon for people in the region, especially the Indian Army which currently transports water from Bhuj region.

``The likelihood of finding water in the area is good because there is greenery just a couple of km across the border in Pakistan while on the Indian side it's all desert,'' says D K Chadha, CGWA chairman. Chadha, however, ruled out speculation that the water source could be the mythical Saraswati river. ``Historical records and studies show Saraswati did not go beyond Rajasthan,'' he said.

Chadha, who visited the region soon after the earthquake alongwith a team of CGWA officials, said that seven drilling machines had been installed along the border and another three will be put in place soon. Nearly 25 engineers are working on the project. ``We are conducting the exploration in a scientific manner for locating new acquifiers which will augment water in the Kutch region,'' he said.

Field observations show the eruption of water through fissures or conical features. The fissures/cracks are linear and extend from few metres to 25 metres. The width of a fissure extends upto 40 cm while the diameter of the craters vary from 1 cm to 4.1 metre.

Chadha said that the ``water eruptions'' continued from 30 minutes to three hours. In some cases, for two to three days while at places like India Bridge, Umedpur, Bharavalabet, the water flow is still continuing.

The Kutch basin is located in a trough lying between two parallel ridges running east-west caused because of the upliftment along the Nagar Parkar fault in the north and Saurashtra fault in the south.

The earthquake in 1819 raised the land by about 50 to 100 feet. The basin has thick layers of rocks of the Mesozoic sequence (225 to 65 million years of age) followed by a thin (900-plus metres) Tertiary sequence (65 to seven million years).