Defence Colony Well

As part of my work collecting data on wells, I made a third visit to Indira Nagar. However, this time it was not to see a well in someone’s house, but to the Defence Colony Park, where a group of traditional well cleaners (manuvaddas) were cleaning up a hundred-year-old community well. This trip sounded fun, but also challenging, since I’d have to make conversation with my broken Kannada: but then again, I figured, I could always bring in a little Tamil if needed, so no worries. I packed my notes, made sure my phone camera was working, and started for work.


It was a fairly large structure, about 20 ft deep and 30 ft in diameter. Unlike the other wells I had seen so far, this one still had a good amount of water, albeit water stained reddish-brown and containing algae and aluminium foil plates. According to Mr Ramakrishna, one of the well cleaners, it had had nearly twelve feet of water before they started pumping it out the day before. This was indeed impressive, considering that the well provided water to the entire park.

Next to the mouth of the well sat an enormous heap of mud and dead branches, with all sorts of plastic and paper sticking out of it. This was only a portion of the trash that had been accumulating in it over the years. Upon asking the cleaners, I learned that this was the first time that the well was ever being cleaned. Decades of neglect by the owning BBMP had turned it, like many other water bodies in the city, into a polluted wreck. Just that week, fortunately, a hundred members of the local Defence Colony Association had pooled money to get it renovated. Biome had put them in touch with the manuvaddas. 
 
The well cleaning team then decided to give me a brief outline of the renovation process. To begin with, of course, the well has to be emptied. This was taking a much longer time than usual with the Defence Colony Park well; on the day of the visit, despite the pump having run for 24 hours and draining out 20 litres per second, there was still 3 ft of water. This was a good sign, as it implied that the shallow aquifer was replenishing itself at a high rate in this location and wouldn’t have trouble filling up the well once the job was done. 
 
As the water is being pumped out from the well, the cleaners start cleaning the stones lining the inside of the well, as well as removing any large branches or garbage floating in the water. The trash in the DCP well had already been taken out for the most part. 
 
Once the well is empty, they apply sunna, bleach, potassium permanganate, and alum on its bottom and sides. The final step is to cover the surface of the well with a plastic mesh to prevent its further pollution. All this normally takes two to three days. 

According to the well cleaners, they will be done with their work in another day. Once they finish, the well will be ready to provide fresh, clean water for watering the plants in the park. And it will not be through any civic body, but thanks to the local residents’ initiative and the well cleaners’ hard work. 



- Arun Rams