Farmers harvest water with Bhungroo

Bukkapatnam (Anantapur): The District Water Management Agency (DWMA) is implementing a unique pilot programme aimed at water conservation in two villages of Bukkapatnam and Agraharam in the district.

Dubbed as ‘Bhungroo-injection well’, it is borrowed from Gujarat State and is a proven water conservation technique suited for semi-arid conditions which is prevalent in the district.

An injection well is a device that places water deep underground as an underground storage tank into porus rock formations such as sandstone or limestone or below the shallow soil layer.

The technology ensures the flood waters seep through straw into a pipe that carries into a groundwater well. Bhungroo works out for one-tenth of the cost of borewell recharge technology.

Explaining the concept, DWMA Project Director A Naganhushanam told The Hans India that the Bhungroo injection point installed in an agriculture land is enriched with multiple large scale water retention sub-soil layers from 16 meters onwards.

First layer is 25 meters and the third layer is at 115 meters. The first layer is primarily enriched with fractures and the last layer is of high water retention capacity. It has a capacity to store 2 crore litres of water.

The injection well is installed at Rambavikunta village in Bukkapatnam mandal on a pilot basis. The concept almost successful and would be expanded to other regions where groundwater levels is at its low for conservation of rainwater.

A German team which had signed an MOU with India for experimenting with the technology and introducing the same to other parts of the country had recently visited Bukkapatnam and was impressed with the progress of the experimentation.

Under Bhungroo technology, a minimum of one crore litres of water can be stored for seven months and can irrigate 25 acres continuously. In Bukkapatnam village, afforestation of barren hills which included plantation of 83,000 plants and more than 80 percent survival registered is one indication of the water conservation miracle in the mandal.

This apart, rock filled dams for preventing soil erosion and roof water harvesting structures and borewell recharge structures and groundwater recharge, all point to the astounding success of the Bhungroo concept.

District Collector Kona Sasidhar is the moving force behind the success of the concept and is keen to expand the benefits to the entire district. “Bhungroo” in Gujarati means a “straw” through which the earth can sip in water inside as well as can give water to its children for lifelong.

This name was given by the poor women members, who worked for the Bhungroo development. "The Bhungroo is an innovative application of the principle used in groundwater recharge wells.

It is a filtered injection method that causes the gathered water to percolate in the ground. A big natural underground water reservoir enables the farmers to store the rainwater and avail dual cropping during monsoon and winter.

This massive underground reservoir can hold as much as 40 million litres of rain water.

It harvests water for just about 10 days per year and can supply water for as long as seven months. “Artificially recharging aquifers by adding rainwater to underground water reservoirs through induced infiltration enables the communities to continue farming over seven to eight months in a year,” says Sowmithra, coordinator of the project.

The non-saline water brings down the salinity of the groundwater making it fit for agricultural use. This prevents water logging and the existing trapped moisture in the soil is sufficient for the monsoon crop.

In winter, the farmers can lift the injected water and use it for irrigation. Plots, which were perennially unproductive for decades due to water logging, produce at least 2 crops from the very first year due to
installation of Bhungroo.