Click to play videoJodhpur: Whoever heard of rains being unwelcome in a desert?
But in Jodhpur, rains only mean more trouble. The city's water table has been rising at an alarming rate.
For residents like Harish, a shoe-shop owner, rains mean pumping out one to two feet of water from his shop every day and a huge electricity bill.
“If there's no electricity for a couple of hours the water level doubles up and all our stock gets soggy…so we've to drain out the water through the nights sometimes using generators,” he says.
The situation is worse in the older parts of the city where the foundations of several buildings are now at risk.
This includes the Jodhpur High Court building. Then, there are the health hazards from stagnant water.
“Water has risen and not gone down…the foundation is weakening and the rainy season is on,” Meenaxi Soni, resident, Jodhpur
How did this alarming rise in the water table happen? There are different theories --- from water leakage from the city's Kaylana lake to abandoning traditional water sources like stepwells after water supply from the Rajiv Gandhi canal began.
Meanwhile, a Rs 12-crore scheme to fix the problem is yet to show results on the ground and people are still awaiting a solution for something that began showing up seven years back.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
 |
 |
 |
|
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
