Patalaganga Project in Karnataka

     The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department, Government of Karnataka (GoK) had convened a meeting on May 15, 2017 to discuss about the possibility of implementation of the proposal by M/s. Water Quest Hydroresources (WQH) to drill deep bore wells in search of untapped water from greater depths (‘Patala Ganga’) for public water supply. This concept based WQH proposal states “seawater distillate is natural fresh water formed by the seawater continuously flowing by gravity along fractures across hundreds of kilometre within the continental crust at a depth of around six kilometre, thus generating an inexhaustible supply of steam when temperature exceeds around 1500c. With the salt/minerals settling at the bottom of the fractures, the steam generated moves upwards along pores, fractures and sinkholes of the geological formations encountered to condense as seawater distillate capped by some impervious formation typically at the depth of 300-800 meters. This seawater distillate may dissolve some chemical constituents from the geological formations through which it passes. The seawater distillate can traverse continents in the form of perennial water veins (Jala nadis). Seawater Distillate is not dependent of rain or typical groundwater recharge. These are self-recharging and self-replenishing water sources”.

    In this regard, duly considering the geomorphological, geological, structural and hydrogeological aspects of Karnataka, an in-depth study was carried out by G.V. Hegde and K.C. Subhash Chandra, hydrogeologists, to evaluate the merit or otherwise of WQH proposal. The results of this study is published as a scientific paper entitled“Patalaganga project against hydrogeological characteristics of Karnataka, India”in the Indian Journal of Scientific Research [ IJSR 09(1) 65-69, 2018].The copy of the said paper attached for reference.

The significant features arrived from the study are:

 1. The concept of WQH about the mechanism of ‘percolation of sea water to a deeper level, formation of sea water distillate and generation of Water Veins/Underground Rivers at shallow depth is only hypothetical. Such a condition is not a possibility in the hard rock terrains of Karnataka and hence occurrence of pockets of seawater distillate as perennial source for self-replenishing, self-recharging water veins/underground Rivers finds no scientific reasoning.

2.  The concept of trans-continental water flow does not find any merit in the context of Karnataka and finds no scientific merit even to mitigate acute water supply problems.

3.  Geological, geomorphological, hydrogeological and structural features of the State do not support transmission of seawater across hundreds of kilometre land-inward.

4.  Groundwater in the target locations of WQH in Karnataka (Indi, Aland, Shrinivasapur, Pavagada, Chikkanayakanahalli, Sidlaghatta, Challakere, Anekal, Beladadi, Nabhapur, Mahaligapur, Tirlpur and Annigeri) attributed to groundwater resources of meteoric origin in the composite aquifer system, but not from the source as contemplated by WQH.

5.  Though water yielding potential fractures are limited to 300m depth, bore wells attempted in the State beyond 500-600m have not remained sustainable.

       In view of the above, the authors strongly contend that the proposal of WQH finds no merit at any point of time for implementation.

       It is learnt that, WQH pilot bore wells drilled in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh during the year 2018 have failed. 

By BET Trustee G V Hegde (Geologist) and BET Resource person K. C. Subhash Chandra (Geologist)