Sweet water stream found in Kutch desert

Rajkot: As jawans deputed to guard the 125-km long stretch of Indo-Pak border falling in the Greater Rann of Kutch (GRK) they brave the extremely difficult terrains.
Getting fresh water to quench their thirst in the salt marsh of the Thar desert was like a mirage for the Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers.
But that has changed thanks to the efforts of Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) which has secured their water demands at Genda check post or 1079 border outpost in BSF’s jargon.
Around 20 jawans are posted at one chowki. There are 40 such chowkis, located at 5 km distance between them, securing the 125 km border.
So far, water to these chowkis came through tankers from Khavda, situated around 90 km away. But absence of proper roads made it difficult for vehicles to reach the check post.
Since 2012, a team led by M G Thakkar from Kutch university’s geology department and GWSSB hydrologist Naresh Gor had started searching for freshwater stream in GRK.
Using radio carbon dating, they started studying sediments that dated back to 50,000 to 1,00,000 years. Satellite imagery data from NASA and Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) showed that a river system existed in the area centuries ago.
Although a source for fetching sweet water was known in 2018, it was still not potable.
“We drilled the ground with the assumption that there is a stream of Saraswati river flowing underground. The total dissolved solids (TDS) of water in this area is as high as 70,000-1 lakh. We drilled specific points where there was a possibility to fetch water of Saraswati river. We got water with 9,000 TDS which could be brought down to 200 TDS after filtering,” Gor told TOI.
GWSSB provides 1 lakh litre treated water to BSF daily with each litre costing around 37 paise. Although this water is not enough, it has eased the hardships of jawans as well as the board. For all its chowkis, BSF requires 3-4 lakh litres water per day.
Current filtration plant’s capacity is 7,000 litre per hour. But there is no surface water in 80 km area and the groundwater too is saline.
“After we drilled borewell deeper, we started getting sweet water. We believe that this underground water is coming from Rajasthan which is on the upper plate,” said GWSSB’s executive engineer Ashok Ladhar.
Since the last three years, the borewell is providing 7,000-8,000 litre water without use of any machinery.
Water collected in a tank of BSF and four plastic tanks of 10,000 litres capacity each installed by GWSSB is distributed to all the chowkis.
Dependency on water tankers to end
GWSSB has dug two more underground borewells near Sandip post and Khardoi post, located 5 km and 20 km respectively from the existing outpost that is equipped with a borewell. Water from these borewells is flowing naturally. As TDS levels of this water is in the range of 10,000-11,000, it can be treated and distributed among BSF jawans. The Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) and ISRO have studied the requirement. BARC has agreed to provide two more filtration plants.
“We are also planning one more borewell near Narayan Sarovar. After that BSF would not require water tankers from Khavda and Bhuj,” said an official.