Ranchi: The birthplace of freedom fighter and tribal icon Bhagwan Birsa Munda, Ulihatu village, has revived an aquifer, overcoming the tag of one of the driest areas in Khunti district.For decades, the villagers of Ulihatu faced acute water shortages despite the presence of 50 bore wells across the village and another 15 in the Birsa Munda Complex, which houses a school, a healthcare centre, and a Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) camp. Repeated attempts to tap groundwater failed due to the area’s rocky terrain and depleted aquifers.The Khunti district administration, in collaboration with agency Aqualine Bhungru, mapped, treated, and revived numerous dead aquifers in the complex through scientific intervention in March 2024, benefiting around 500 students of the school, visitors to the health centre, and the SSB jawans.“Bringing water back to Birsa Munda’s village was not just a necessity, but a matter of honour. Ulihatu is one of the driest areas of the district, and the hand pumps and other means of extracting water were dry, compelling villagers to go miles for water. The district administration roped in the agency to find a solution to the problem, which adopted advanced groundwater recharging techniques, and the results are now visible,” said Onkar Nath, Junior engineer of the Public Health and Engineering Department at Arki block of Khunti district.One of the founders of Aqualine Bhungru, Rathin Bhadra, said, “Our team assessed the site to know the area’s geography, condition of aquifers, vegetation, and presence of organisms and implemented a comprehensive solution. Then the aquifers under the earth were identified, and we carried out deep digging. As the groundwater level depleted due to rapid concretisation leaving no pores available for groundwater recharge, we had to dig thousands of feet to avail water.“The project was completed in June. Today,, the 15 bore wells meet the water needs of the Birsa Munda complex. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the village in November 2023, family members of Birsa Munda had requested him to address the issue.
