Hamlet on hillock to get water using solar power

Vadodara: Residents of Tekra Faliya in Harkhod village in Naswadi taluka, which is only 5km from Sardar Sarovar Dam, have been walking down 3km daily from their hillock to fetch water. But will soon embrace solar motor pumps to quench their thirst as the district administration is set to install three solar hand pumps there in the next few days.
Located at a height of 300 m,, around 25 to 30 families of Tekra Faliya had no source of water as it was not possible to install hand pumps there like in other parts of the village. There is no motorable road to reach to the hamlet. Harkhod, which is situated in the interiors of Chhota Udepur, has depended on groundwater as there are no other sources due to hilly terrain. Sources in the district administration said that the Chhota Udepur work division of Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) drilled three bores on the hillock using a manual bore drilling machine which they got from Rajkot.

“Tekra Faliya has no motorable roads because of which it was not even possible for trucks to reach there. Therefore taking a truck-mounted rig there is out of question. Recently, we sourced the manual drilling machine from Rajkot which is light in weight and took it to the top with the help of labourers,” said Harshad Parmar, executive engineer, GWSSB.

Parmar said that two to three people can lift the machine along with a small-sized compressor for applying pneumatic pressure. “The truck mounted rig has huge rods and it can dig five bores in one day while this machine can dig only one bore in one day and that too only till 200 to 300 feet,” added Parmar.

“ We are planning to install solar-powered water pumps with a water tank on the hillock. Also, in the long run we are planning to provide water through taps in every house by laying pipelines,” Parmar further said.

“Some of these hamlets are very difficult to reach even by four-wheelers. But the administration and water supply department is committed to provide water till the last mile,” said Vijay Kharadi, Chhota Udepur district collector.