Water scarcity in the city is not new, but with resources drying up and the authorities inability to end the citizens’ woes prompted a few residents of a locality in Kondhwa to take matters into their hands. They have gone back to basics by reviving a100-year-old well in the area.
The 70-ft-deep well was in a state of neglect for over a decade and was being used as a garbage dump. “The well is about a century old and belonged to the farmer who owned this land originally . It was the only source of water when we first moved here in 1984. At that time, it was fitted with a pump and was used to bring water to homes in a 2km radius,“ said 39-year-old Wasim Tarkash.
“The well lost its significance for the residents after the civic authorities started supplying water through pipeline to the area in 2005. Since then, the water body was neglected and it eventually ended up being the dumping spot for garbage. Even now, the garbage dumping issue in other parts of the area per sists,“ said Wasim’s father, Mahmood, who owns an oil business.
Wedding event organizer and social worker Saleem Mullah (53) took it upon himself to clean the well and rejuvenate it.
“The supply from the ci vic body was hardly a respite because the tap water comes every alternate day . There is a school in the locality , where as many as 450 students study .So, on days when there was no supply , the school would need up to three tankers to meet its needs,“ he said. The residents decided to see if they could get the well back in shape. “The work began on the first Roza of Ramzan, on June 7, and after 26 days, it is complete. The task was not easy ,“ Mullah added.
It took removal of about 75 tractor loads of garbage and debris to get to the bottom of the well, which is about 70 feet. The well currently has about 25ft water. “One tanker can be filled with 1.5ft of the well’s water. So, we have nearly 20 tankers of water in it now,“ he added.
The work came at a price too. “We got an estimate of Rs3.5 lakh for the cleaning work. We collected the sum from our neighbours and others who stand to benefit from the well water,“ he said.
The residents will now send samples of the well water to the health department as well as private laboratories for test check its usability.
Source : TOI
