Jagalur taluk a 'grey pocket area'

DAVANAGERE: Jagalur taluk in Davanagere district is as considered one of the overexploited taluks in the state as far as groundwater resource is concerned and hence, it has been tagged as a 'grey pocket area' in the map of water resources, according to H M Khayyum Ali, additional director of mines and geology (groundwater division), Bangalore.
He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating an awareness camp on groundwater exploration at Jagalur town on Saturday, organized by the department of geology and mines for the benefit of GP, TP, ZP members and its president and vice presidents of Jagalur taluk.
There are 35 taluks including Jagalur out of 175 taluks in the state that have been declared as 'grey pockets' by the groundwater division of the mines and geology department. There is no scope for further drilling of bore wells in these areas, he said. He asked the elected representatives to take some mitigative measures so as to augment the groundwater potential in Jagalur through artificial recharging methods. A bill pertaining to groundwater resources is pending before the Union and state cabinet and if it is being implemented, then drilling bore wells without the permission of the concerned authorities will come into effect, he hinted.
Former MLA G Gurusiddanagowda lamented for not having proper agriculture policies in the country, although agri-based industries provide 70% employment in the country.
He said that Jagalur taluk was drought hit for 32 years in the past 100 years, during 1903 to 2003 and hence 150 check dams have been built in the taluk during his term as MLA as a part of a mitigative measure.
Besides, drinking water to Jagalur town has been arranged through an 80 km long pipeline from Sulekere in Channagiri taluk, he added. Steps have been taken into consideration for providing water to the selected 22 tanks in the taluk under a lifting irrigation scheme to augment the groundwater resources, he said.
Jagalur town panchayat president J V Nagaraju said that over 15,000 farm labourers from the taluk go for other places every summer for want of jobs. Prof S Manjappa, Prof SAG Raju, Ganpathi V Hegde and M R Premachandra delivered special lectures on groundwater quality and groundwater recharge topics with slide projections. Davangere district senior geologist H P Mallesh and his staff coordinated the event.