Bengaluru Urban among five districts with over 100% groundwater extraction: Report
Bengaluru: Five districts in Karnataka, including Bengaluru Urban, are facing alarming levels of groundwater extraction exceeding 100%, according to recent data. However, the state overall has shown improvement compared to earlier estimates by the Union government.
Official data, cited by Deccan Herald on Thursday, revealed that Kolar leads the list with groundwater extraction at 193.35%, followed by Bengaluru Urban (186.7%), Chikkaballapura (164.33%), Bengaluru Rural (147.05%), and Chitradurga (144.44%).
Groundwater extraction above 70% is classified as ‘semi-critical,’ between 90-100% as ‘critical,’ and anything over 100% is considered ‘overexploited.’ The statewide average groundwater extraction stands at 68.44%.
To address the issue, the Minor Irrigation Department has launched the ‘Water is Future’ project. The first phase targets 525 gram panchayats (GPs) across 27 taluks in 15 districts marked as “critical” or “overexploited.” Notably, 86 of these GPs are located in Bengaluru Urban district alone, added the report.
While the data for the five districts are worrying, Karnataka’s overall groundwater status has improved nationally. As per the National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2024, conducted by the Union government, Karnataka ranks 10th in groundwater extraction, a better position than the 5th rank in the previous report.
Punjab tops the list nationwide with 156.87% extraction, followed by Rajasthan (149.86%) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (142.17%). In South India, Pondicherry (75.91%) and Tamil Nadu (74.26%) report higher groundwater exploitation than Karnataka.
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Mangaluru: Teacher booked for allegedly beating student in school
Vittla (Dakshina Kannada): A case has been registered at the Vittla Police Station against a school teacher on charges of seriously assaulting a student with a cane at an English-medium school in Idkidu village here near Vittla in Dakshina Kannada district.
According to the complaint, the student, who attends the school regularly, had gone to school as usual. Around 2 pm, the child’s parents received a call from the school office stating that their child had allegedly disturbed other students. The school informed them that when the teacher scolded the student over the issue, the child became frightened and urinated, and the parents were asked to come and take the child home.
The parents reportedly told the school staff that no one was at home at the time and requested that the child be sent home in an autorickshaw.
After returning home, the student told the parents that a teacher identified as Istikaar had beaten him severely on the hand with a cane. The child also said that he urinated out of fear while the assault was taking place.
When the parents contacted the teacher over the phone to question him about the incident, he allegedly responded in a dismissive manner.
Following this, the parents lodged complaints with the Vittla Police Station and the Child Development Project Office, seeking justice and strict action against the teacher for allegedly assaulting the child without any valid reason.
Police have registered a case against the teacher and have taken up further investigation.
