Borewell contractors minting the money in drought

With the sun scorching, and the taps running dry due to drought the demand for digging borewells has tremendously increased in city. Several borewell contractors in the city own around 5 to 6 vehicles and are engaged round the clock earning good money by drilling borewells during the drought.

They receive dozens of enquiries over phone everyday enquiring about costs incurred. According to sources around 3-4 borewells are dug every day in the city and nearby villages from these drillers.

They charge Rs 75 for drilling one feet of bore if the vehicle is bought to the the spot, else the rates differ depending on the distance from where the vehicle is parked and the place of bore. The total approximate cost for digging a bore in the city ranges from Rs 25,000 to Rs 45,000 depending on depth.

Last year the prices was around Rs 70. Hike in diesel prices has pushed the contractors to rise the price. Sri Ram Borewells Chandru says following tough competition, labour problem, hike in diesel price they are facing lot of problems.

“Irregular supply of water has caused lot of hardship. Specially during summer our problems were unimaginable. After we placed bourwell water problem has solved for some extent,” said Archana, resident of TK Layout.

Meenakshi who had drilled borewell recently said: “We got the number in yellow pages and contacted the borwell drillers, then indeed came and setup the bore of us.”

Vignesh, who takes agency of digging borewell said: “The response in summer has gone up and they are having good business.” Mines and Geology Department Officer Chowdry said the department is getting applications from farmers, government department, whereas not from residents.

The official even added that there is no objection for drilling bores in houses in Mysore. Meantime, none is bothered to know if any law exists that requires prior permission to be obtained before digging a new borewell.

When contacted a couple of borewell drillers in the city over phone seeking details of the permission to be obtained from concerned authorities for digging a new borewell, the replies received were astounding. Several borewell drilling contractors not aware of which department they should consult to obtain a permission.

“Once a borewell is dug, that's it. Nobody bothers. Without fear you can get your bore drilled. We are in this business for the past several years and there is no risk. Its just a matter of few hours,” say Contractors.