Steps initiated to rejuvenate springs of NE

Context: Natural springs are lifelines
for people living in hilly areas, but unfortunately, natural springs are drying
up for various reasons. That is why, the Brahmaputra Board, in collaboration
with the concerned State Governments of the Northeast states and technical
experts, have launched a programme to rejuvenate the drying springs and revive
the dried-up ones. Springs are natural discharges of groundwater, and they play
a crucial role in the lives of people living in the hill areas. Even while
implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission, spring water is used to supply water to
households and when springs dry up, people will not get water. When the water
of the springs gets dirty, people will get contaminated water.

Key points

·      
Overview: On
the steps that need to be taken to rejuvenate the springs, the first step would
be to ensure that the natural recharge points of the springs are protected, and
no construction work is allowed in the area. Underground water levels should
not be allowed to dwindle at any moment and even pits or retention walls can be
constructed to prevent wastage of water.

·      
Importance of springs in NE: Contribution
to rivers: The springs contribute a large share to the base flow of the large
Himalayan rivers such as the Brahmaputra — more than glaciers, ice and snow.

Meeting
water needs: Moreover, the mountainous regions of the northeastern states are
mostly dependent on these springs to meet their water needs.

·      
Springs: Springs
are fed by aquifers, a system of rocks/rock material, which stores and
transmits water to such springs. Different rocks show different properties that
are characteristic of the process of the formation of the rock. The extent of
mountains aquifers, their geometry and hydrological parameters exhibit large
variation influencing spring behaviour. Recharge to the spring is governed by
spring type, aquifer geometry and its properties. Geologically, springs are
classified into five types.

Depression
Springs - Depression springs are formed in unconfined aquifers
when the topography intersects the water table, usually due to the surface
stream incision. As the Springs are formed because of earth’s gravitational
pull they are named depression or gravity springs. These are usually found
along the hillside and cliffs.

Fracture
Springs - Fracture springs occur due to existence of permeable
fracture zones in low permeability rocks. Movement of groundwater is mainly
through fractures that constitute the porosity and permeability of aquifers.
Springs are formed where these fractures intersect the ground surface.

Karst
Springs - The term ‘Karst’ is derived from a Slavic word that
means barren, stony ground. It is also the name of a region in Slovenia near
the border with Italy that is well known for its sinkholes and springs.
Geologists have adopted karst as the term for all such terrain. Cavities are
formed in carbonates rocks (limestones, dolomites, etc.) due to dissolution of
rock material by chemical reaction. Water moves through these cavities and
openings to form a spring or a system of springs.

Fault
Springs - Faulting may also give rise to conditions in which
groundwater (at depth) under hydrostatic pressure (such as in confined
aquifers) can move up along such fault openings to form a spring.

Contact
Springs - Contact springs emerge at contacts where relatively
permeable rocks overlie rocks of low permeability. Spring water emerges at such
contacts.

·      
Drying up of springs: The
drying of springs in Northeast India may be because of human-induced geological
and land use changes, along with the impact of climate change, especially
rainfall.

·      
Jal Jeevan Mission & its
implications: In the Budget 2021-22, Jal Jeevan
Mission (Urban) was announced under the Ministry of Housing of Urban Affairs to
provide universal coverage of water supply to all households through functional
taps in all statutory towns in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal- 6.

Ø 
Rejuvenation of water bodies - To
augment sustainable fresh water supply and create green spaces and sponge
cities to reduce floods and enhance amenity value through an Urban Aquifer
Management plan.