Mangaluru: Technology invasion in recent past is on the rise where common people find it extremely difficult to understand the nuances leave alone keeping pace with it. One such invasion is in the field of bore wells where drinking water can be provided to a household within a day’s time in any area. With this invasion the olden day open wells have disappeared, dried up or filled with sludge. It is possible to remove silt in ponds, lakes and vented dam areas using heavy machinery but the tools which enable to pierce a rock to extract water beneath will not be of any use in removing sludge in open wells where one has to rely on good old manual labour force.
With drinking water becoming a rare commodity this summer many people in coastal and south interior areas of Karnataka are finding ways to revive the old fashioned wells to meet their drinking water needs. In reality their efforts are in vain!
The reason being the task is more difficult than digging a modern day bore well and may turn out to be very expensive in most cases. Minimum number of 6 people are required to remove the sludge from the old open wells. Some take up work on contract basis at an exorbitant cost after assessing the location where as in other cases they refuse to accept the deal without handsome wages. With each labor demanding around Rs 800 a day the well owner may end up paying around 5000 a day to remove the sludge. The entire operation of sludge removal may take few days. If the well is very deep the labor cost increases exponentially as the workers demand more money citing genuine reasons like lack of oxygen and also fear of mud caving in from top.
Not long ago with one well in each household finding the right man was not a difficult task and many men were available for sludge removal operations. With the expertise disappearing with the open wells it has become increasing difficult to find people for the job and in most cases the well owners are returning empty-handed with none willing to take up the arduous task. In other cases the well owners end up paying huge labor costs without getting any water due to depleting ground water levels.
An open well owner on conditions anonymity said that last year, he had found a worker to get down into the well and dig out the slush. But, due to low oxygen level he felt a little dizzy and signaled the people outside to pull him up. Though no untoward incident occurred, the word has spread around and this year there is no one to clean the slush.
Though the concerns of the labor force are genuine, the demands have left the well owners high and dry.
The thirsty crow may find a way to drink little water available in the open pot on a hot summer day where as the ‘wait ‘of the open well owners may never end!
