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Dateline Jodhpur

In a region of drought, there's one place where the water simply doesn't stop flowing. The rest of Rajasthan may be drying up, but for the last one-and-a-half years, residents of Jodhpur's walled city have been grappling with a perennial supply of water in the basements of their houses and stores.

Synthetic stone dealer Ram Avtar in Sunaron Ka Baans points to his basement where a Godrej cupboard floats in one-and-a-half feet of water. "The water suddenly started seeping in last year. Now, it's more or less constant. All my stationery got ruined, and the place is a breeding ground for mosquitoes".

It's a complaint echoed in all shops and houses with basements. Eight years ago, businessman Chiman Lal built himself a two storeyed house in Silavaton Ka Baans. He also built a 17 foot by 15 ft room for storing grain and other items, along with a tank for water storage. A year ago, he had to strip the room of all its contents.

The tank is emptied by a motor every three to four hours to prevent flooding. "Hamare ghar mein to Ganga behti hai. It feels strange when there is water scarcity elsewhere," says his wife Kiran.

Where's the water coming from?

Unlike other lakes in Rajasthan, there has been a five-six feet rise in water levels of the Gulab Sagar and Fateh Sagar lakes here. In a region which hasn't seen rain for the past three years, where's the water coming from? R.P Mathur, Officer in-charge of the Jodhpur branch of the Central Ground Water Board, says, "To tackle Jodhpur's water scarcity problem, water from the Indira Gandhi canal was transported here in 1997 in a closed canal and stored in a natural reservoir in west Jodhpur, called the Kaylana Lake.

That reservoir is not only filled to the brim, but the ancient rocks in it have developed cracks due to structural disturbances. Water has been seeping into those cracks and surfacing in areas like the walled city which are located at a lower level".

There are further complications: because of the plentiful supply of sweet canal water, residents have stopped using their tube wells to pump out saline underground water. This too has raised the groundwater level. Even tanks which were being emptied annually remain full throughout the year.

Problems, Problems

Perhaps, the problem's most visible face is in the swanky showroom and residence of gems and jadau jewellery specialist G S Bhandari in Moti Chowk. Here, a motor constantly sucks water out of the forty-foot long basement. Rapidly widening cracks have developed in the walls and floor of even the top storey of the house. The ornamental tiles in the granite topped kitchen have begun splitting, and the doors are warped and don't close anymore.

His wife shudders, "At night, I hear the sound of tiles cracking". Her 21-year-old daughter Shweta spends considerable time sticking brown tape onto the cracks. Her father has summoned countless engineers, but nobody could help. "Everyone recommends that the basement be filled up, but till the water stops coming in, that cannot be done," say Shweta wryly.

Though District Collector Rajat Kumar Mishra says a detailed report on the problem has just been completed and will be submitted to the state government, Mathur says things could get far worse. "The continuous seepage of water and intermittent wetting and drying causes cracks in the plinth. Old houses could even collapse".

Mahender Surana (40) has a solution: the garment exporter has taken time off from his business to divert the excess water. "I'm trying to find a way to supply this water to people in other areas who get water for just an hour every day". The water is hard and saline and virtually useless, but as Surana says, "It could at least be used to water gardens".

(Article published in 'The New Indian Express')