Borewells to monitor groundwater level in two zones

According to Metro Water, all the 13 wards in Valasaravakkam and 15 wards in Anna Nagar would have monitoring borewells.

These borewells would be equipped with indicators to obtain real time groundwater level data. Earlier, the water manager had proposed to sink 200 monitoring borewells in each of the 200 wards in the Chennai Corporation.

Presently, the Metro Water monitors and releases the groundwater level in the city every month. The data are taken from 120 open monitoring wells, which, however, could only measure the water level in the shallow aquifer.

Due to the lack of deep monitoring wells, the Metro Water could not measure groundwater level in deep aquifers. Majority of residents in the city tap groundwater using deep borewells and only a few use open wells. Shallow aquifer only fills open wells.

“We had sent a proposal to the State government to dig borewells and install monitoring devices. As the government sanctioned it, we have floated tenders inviting contractors to dig borewells in Valasaravakkam and Anna Nagar. Tenders would be floated for other zones,” an official said.

Meanwhile, data released by the Metro Water shows that groundwater level (shallow aquifer) in all the zones witnessed a drop in February when compared to January. The data showed that there was nearly a metre drop in Ambattur, Anna Nagar, Valasaravakkam. Areas such as Tiruvottiyur, Manali and Sholinganallur recorded the least dip in groundwater levels.