A day with Ramesh

Today we traveled to Chele Kere, a lake on the northeast corner of Bengaluru to meet with Ramesh, a well digger who we learned was Ramakrishna’s brother. He was working on digging 15 recharge wells for a park on the south side of the lake (13° 1' 31" N,  77° 38' 41" E). His crew had just started working in the area earlier that morning, but had already almost finished digging one well and had started on two others. The crushed rock had already been delivered and sat in several large piles nearby. We learned that while BBMP had facilitated the recharge wells, the funding actually came from the NGO United Way who found donors and contracted with Ramesh. He showed us around the area where the wells would go, indicating where soil with a cracked surface indicated that water had pooled in a low spot and dried up sometime in the past.

Digging a recharge well and cracked ground evidence of a low spot

We learned he employed 40 well diggers when he had work, but that he had spent the last month without and most of his crew had resorted to construction or general labor to make ends meet. He definitely felt pressure to find work to keep his crew busy so they could all provide for their families. He told us about a few of his previous projects, digging 300 recharge wells in Lalbagh Park last November and December and another digging 160 recharge wells in a layout. Those projects had provided a lot of reliable work for his crews and also gave him the opportunity to share his contact information with park visitors who had later contacted him to do several private wells.

Ramesh’s crew digging recharge wells

We left the park and, after a brief stop for an early lunch, we followed Ramesh to a well rejuvenation project northwest of Manchenahalli. An engineer had purchased 10 acres for a small herd of cows and wanted to rejuvenate the existing well. It had fallen into disrepair and been filled with silt, and debris. The top stone pitching had collapsed and it was overgrown with bushes and weeds. His crew had already cleared the brush and excavated down about 12 feet. The well was approximately 15 feet in diameter and Ramesh told us he thought it was about 30 feet deep.

Removing silt and debris from an old well

Unfortunately the project relied on power that was sourced from a nearby powerline that was used to power an electric winch and a pump to dewater the well. The power was only on from noon until 4 pm and after dark. This meant that the crew only had 4 hours to work a day with daylight, and it was during the hottest part of it. They had wired a lightbulb on the end of a stick to easily show if power was available. 

Whenever the bulb illuminated the crew would quickly pump the water out of the well and begin digging, filling up large rubber containers made from old bus tires  and using the electric winch to pull them to the surface where they were emptied before being sent back in the well for another load. They were making good progress until the power unexpectedly went out, stopping progress for 20 minutes. Everyone climbed out of the well and found shade until jumping back to work the moment the bulb was illuminated again.

We were able to interview Ramesh, between him helping his crew to make sure the pump was working properly and stopping to drink tender coconut water from fresh coconuts that a local villager brought out to the well. We gathered information for a well-digger biography as well as exploring any struggles he faced in his work. He mentioned he missed climbing down in the well and digging himself. He enjoys working on open wells, building new ones or rejuvenating old ones. He takes pride in his work and wants to leave a finished product that looks finished. He also has 2 children, but he’s unsure that they will follow his footsteps to be well diggers. 

Group picture with Ramesh’s rejuvenation crew

The power shut off promptly at 4pm and the crew was done for the day. They had made significant progress cleaning out approximately 8 feet of silt and debris from the well. We took some pictures with the crew and a closeup photo of Ramesh to use in his bio. A couple of his crew jumped the nearby fence to walk to a river that's a couple hundred metres away to rinse off from working in the mud. Before we left, Ramesh walked us to the opposite side of the property where we peered over the fence and saw a neighbor’s well that was overgrown. Ramesh was hoping he would be able to get the contract to rejuvenate that well while he was in the area.

18/2/23 Update:

Ramesh brought in a portable generator to enable a longer workday. At approximately 30 feet, the well narrowed to approximately 8 feet in diameter.

Photo of the narrow section of the well.