Bengaluru may have to be evacuated in a decade if water crisis persists
Around 450 km away, residents of Gadar village in Raichur, a backward district in north Karnataka, are facing a similar situation. Devendrappa, a 73-year-old farmer, got water at 30 feet below the ground when he first drilled a borewell in his field in the late 1980s. Recently, he had to dig to till 1,020 feet. He used to grow groundnut on 9 acres five years ago, but that has come down to 5 acres. "In another five years, I may not grow anything at all," says a dejected Devendrappa. This is the story across Karnataka. Groundwater, a major resource in times of crisis, is dwindling. Increase in the number of borewells and the decline of groundwater levels have resulted in borewells sinking to the depths of 1,000 feet in several areas.
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