RAJSHAHI, Feb 02 (BSS): Optimum aquifer recharge in the high Barind tract is very important to protect its overall public health alongside the existing agricultural ecosystem through managing a groundwater basin efficiently and effectively.
The drought-prone area is turning into an extreme drought zone owing to scarcity of water due to the adverse impact of climate change and other environmental degradations.
Prof Dr Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan of Department of Geology and Mining at Rajshahi University says promotion of managed aquifer recharge can be the vital means of halting furthermore declining of ground water level in the high Barind area.
He said time has come to create awareness to halt the alarming declining of ground water layer. Aquifer recharge activities should be promoted at household level side by side with various institutions and industries artificially.
Shafiqul Islam, a farmer of Kadigram village under Kakonhat Pourasava in Godagari Upazila, has arranged aquifer recharge system in his house.
He is harvesting rainwater from around 3,000 square feet rooftop area of seven rooms through four-inch diameter PVC pipe and conserving those in tank constructed with one-foot height and three-feet diameter six concrete ring slabs.
Farmer Islam is using the conserved water for household purposes through a tap fixed in lower part of the tank. Surplus water is being conserved in the recharge tank through another upper portion wide pipe. After filtering there the stored water is being injected into 140 feet underground sand layer.
House-owner Shafiqul Islam said Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) Project inspired him and extended financial support to the venture.
The IWRM project is being implemented in drought affected 35 union parishads and three pourasavas in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon districts since 2015 by DASCOH Foundation and Swiss Red Cross with financial support from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Shafiqul Islam viewed if his neighbours take initiative of aquifer recharge and use water judiciously desired result will come obviously. Prof Sarwar Jahan said there are 32 heavy auto rice mills within three squire kilometers radius area at water-stressed Jhilim Union under Chapainawabganj district.
The mills extract huge underground water every day through 120 deep tube-wells. For this reason, the nearby tube-wells became non-functional. So, Jhilim UP Chairman Tasiqul Islam has taken necessary initiative so that all the auto rice mills can send their rooftop rainwater to ground water layer.
Responding to his call, Mukhlesur Rahman, owner of Jotsna Auto Rice Mill, has adopted necessary steps for aquifer recharge through injecting rainwater of his 60,000 squire-feet rooftop area.
UP Chairman Tasiqul Islam has a farsighted plan of aquifer recharge through sending rainwater of 2.5 million squire-feet rooftop area of all 32 auto rice mills and he intends to materialize his dream.
Prof Sarwar Jahan opined that the overall experiences of the first ever promoted technology may prove that it could be a positive option to serve as a context specific water technology for the drought prone region.
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