- The Supreme Court has lifted a stay it imposed earlier on the Karnataka government’s scheme known as K&C Valley.KC Valley project envisages filling several tanks in Kolar district with treated water from Bengaluru. The project will help in improving ground water level.
- The apex court said that the scheme was in compliance with similar practices adopted across the world to recharge the groundwater table.It will benefit the farmers as the groundwater levels in these districts are dipping fast.
- Earlier,Supreme Court had suspended an interim order issued by the Karnataka High Court which had refused to stay the scheme.A petition filed before the apex court had claimed that this water has heavy metals and toxic chemicals and using this water for agriculture and groundwater recharge will destroy crops and the environment.
- However,Karnataka government has claimed that water is now being treated before discharge and treated water does not have these chemicals and state should be allowed to release the water.
- Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. This process usually occurs in the vadose zone below plant roots and is often expressed as a flux to the water table surface.Recharge occurs both naturally and through anthropogenic processes,where rainwater and or reclaimed water is routed to the subsurface.
