Perennial water source proves to be a boon for this arid village

Narayanapet (Mahbubnagar): A phenomenon which could be described as mystery of sorts has surfaced in a remote village of Mahbubnagar district. The villagers of Venkatapur in Marikal mandal had spent thousands of rupees to sink bore wells in their fields for irrigation purpose. But the efforts proved to be futile as there was no groundwater in the bore wells. However, one farmer who adapted a different approach and succeeded in sourcing ground water. Instead of digging a bore well, he sunk an open well to a depth of 20 ft., and tapped the groundwater.

Before long, everybody in the village started sinking open wells. It began with 20 open wells and now the number has reached 130 in the limits of the village. Surprisingly, same is not the case with the neighbouring villages of Teeleru, Pedda Chintakunta, Bandravalli and others. All the open wells are full even at the peak of summer which is surprising even the geologists. Venkatapur was in fact an outskirts hamlet of Teeleru village panchayat. Only ten families started living there in 1950 and soon the hamlet evolved into a village.

The villagers now own about 750 acres in and around the village.Since almost all the families have their own open wells, they started cultivating paddy, groundnut and vegetables. Some of the farmers even went one step ahead and are rearing fish in the wells to double their income.

The villagers of Venkatapur said that parched fields were a common sight during summers in Palamuru district. Many villages do not find water even if they sink bore wells up to 500 ft. “The case of our village is entirely different. We get water at a depth of 15 to 20 ft,” they said.Lakshman, an official of the Groundwater Development Authority, describing it as a strange occurrence, said that they are yet to figure out the reasons behind the munificent availability of groundwater resources in this area.

By V Narender Chary