The district administration has prepared a plan to rejuvenate 157 wells of Adil Shahi period, located in various wards of the city, and use the water for domestic purpose.
Grants available with the Mahanagara Palike, Vijayapura Urban Development Authority and the Water Board will be utilised for reviving the wells of medieval times. As many as seven teams have been constituted comprising the officials of the government agencies/local body. The teams have been tasked with identifying the wells and clearing encroachments if any. A total of 147 wells of the 16th and 17 centuries have been identified.
Presently, Vijayapura is getting 8 MLD of water from Bhutanal lake and a further 8 and 60 MLD water from Krishna river under Kolhar Phase I and Phase II, to meet its water requirement. Purified water is also being supplied to parks and gardens in the city. The proposed project aims to use water from the rejuvenated wells for the parks.
Deputy Commissioner Y S Patil told DH, “The project will be implemented in three phases. In the first phase, the wells will be made solid waste-free. In the next two phases, the water bodies will be cleared of encroachments before making water fit for use. We will assess the quality of water. We will supply it to the wards if found fit for human consumption.”
Question of ownership has cropped up for several wells. I have instructed the competent authority to find whether the wells belonged to individuals or waqf. If the project faces fund shortage, we will write to the state government and the Centre seeking financial aid, the DC informed.