Palghar: A 14-year school boy dug a small well which is enough to cater for the family's needs for water. He dug this well about 15 meters in-depth in just five days. The efforts of the boy were blessed with a source of potable water in his well. His efforts were appreciated by Zillha Parishad and were gifted Rs 11 thousand as a prize and a Gharkul (house aided by govt) to his family.
Pranav Ramesh Salkar, studying in standard nine and staying at Dhavangepada in Kelwe in Palghar taluka was pained as his mother working as a farm labourer had to walk half a km to get water for the family after she returned from her work. This prompted Pranav to dig a well for themselves.
Palghar: 14-year school boy digs-up well after seeing mother's woes of walking half km daily for water | FPJ
Palghar: 14-year school boy digs-up well after seeing mother's woes of walking half km daily for water | FPJ
Residents of village living on three-day water supply for few hours
The Dhavangepada locality has 600 tribals living with water released from the tap water scheme on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday only for a few hours. This locality is about 2 km from the seashore and most of the borewells in this belt have Brackish water. (which is not potable water)
Pranav started digging a well near his house after getting a nod from his father who is also working as a farm labourer. The well about 2.5 feet in diameter had a layer of stone down its midway. Pranav's father helped him to break the stone. Pranav used a self-made ladder to get inside the pit and excavate the land.
Pranav's efforts paid off when the pit struck through a water spring some 15 meters below the land a couple of days ago. His joy went multifold when the water was found to be potable. The villagers praised Pranav’s efforts and the Salkar family uses the water from their well for their household.
The villages along the coastal area have Brackish Water which is hard water and has little saltish taste. This water is unusable for household purposes. Moreover, the potable water which is obtained from wells and bore wells has a high amount of dissolved mineral and salt content. The people are compelled to drink this water which results in kidney stone illness.
'Tap Water Scheme' dependancy
The civic administration relies on the Tap Water Scheme which supplies water to many Gram panchayats. Due to this, the beneficiaries in villages get tap water thrice a week for a short period which is insufficient for their daily use.
FPJ spoke to Pramod Pol, Senior Geologist of Ground Water Survey and Development Agency about how potable water was found at the upper part of the ground most of the surrounding areas have Brackish water from groundwater sources. He told that Pranav maintained the excavation to 15 meters was the correct way to obtain water through springs in the coastal areas. If he would have dug more than 20 meters the water would have been Brackish. This type of well is known as shallow water depth well he added.
Zillha Parishad (ZP) Palghar appreciated Pranav’s effort by giving him a prized of Rs 11 thousand in cash which was presented by ZP president Prakash Nikam in the presence of ZP CEO Bhanudas Palve. A Gharkul was awarded in the name of Ramesh Salkar who is the father of Pranav from Shabari Awas Yojana on April 4 with instructions to expedite the administrative process involved for the same.
