To keep a check on the groundwater level, Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) installed 10 piezometers at different spots across the city. The piezometers will have a dual purpose- to assess the current groundwater level of the city and secondly, to measure the increase or decrease in groundwater level during and after the rainy season.
Indore is facing a groundwater shortage, and due to human exploitation, this is the need of the hour. The piezometers will enable real time monitoring of ground water level. It is worth mentioning that till now, the Ground Water Conservation Department was monitoring the city’s water levels through piezometers at just four places.
Equipment worth 20 lakh rupees installed by IMC
The IMC has installed piezometers in the city, the cost of which is approximately Rs 20 lakh. The cost of one device is about 1.5 lakh rupees.
Indore Municipal Corporation entrusted this work to Aquasense Private Limited Agency. The agency drilled 60-meter deep borewells at 10 locations and installed the necessary equipment. Along with the maintenance of these piezometers for the next five years, the agency will also be in charge of data collection and submission.
Notably, areas where the groundwater varies between 40 to 60 meters are chosen by IMC for state-of-the-art piezometers installation. These are Sangam Nagar, Narayan Bagh, Saifee Nagar, Pragati Nagar, Annapurna, Musakhedi, Nipania, Bicholi Mardana and Silicon City.
Similarly, in order to replenish ground water, IMC has installed almost 65,000 geotagged rainwater harvesting systems, moving closer to its target of 1 lakh. Work is in progress to install harvesting systems at houses, institutions, hotels, restaurants, malls, commercial areas and religious places.
How does a piezometer work?
A digital water level recorder is installed on top of the piezometer. This instrument will assess the ground water level through sound waves, without coming in contact with groundwater. Groundwater information will directly reach cloud servers through a SIM card installed in the device, helping authorities monitor things in real time.
