Surat: District collector Tejas Parmar on Thursday ordered an inquiry into groundwater recharge borewells built under the state government’s ‘Catch the Rain’ scheme, after Surat East MLA Arvind Rana questioned their effectiveness during recent heavy rains.Parmar directed the irrigation department to form three committees to inspect the borewells and assess their functioning.Rana raised the issue at a district-level coordination committee meeting, claiming several borewells had failed to prevent waterlogging at the locations where they were installed.The state govt had allocated Rs 50 lakh to each MLA for groundwater recharge works. Of the 50 sites identified by Rana, 39 borewells have been completed, with over Rs 44 lakh spent.Rana said the works were completed on May 30, after which Surat experienced three spells of heavy rain. However, waterlogging continued at several locations, raising questions about whether the borewells were effectively absorbing rainwater.“I had suggested these locations so that the borewells could absorb rainwater and reduce waterlogging. However, during the recent rains, waterlogging continued and the borewells did not appear to be effective,” Rana said.He said he had sought clarification from the Surat Municipal Corporation but was dissatisfied with its response. He demanded a third-party inspection and verification of completion certificates to ensure public money was not wasted.SMC officials said recharge borewells absorb water more slowly than conventional drainage openings because water has to pass through a three-layer filtration system. They said the borewells were constructed according to a design approved by SVNIT experts.
