A natural hot water well in dry Rajasthan!
Yes, say earth scientists who have discovered one such in Bichardi village situated between Beawar and Pali districts of the state.
Ignorant of its importance, the owner of the well thinks of it as a curse because for him it's an everyday job to cool down its hot water to ambient temperature so it is fit to irrigate his fields.
TOI
This hot water well, located on a private land, has a water table of 30 meters. The temperature of the water that gushes from this well has been recorded to be above 58 degrees Celsius, even during extremely cold days.
Technically, such water wells are called 'geothermal wells', and are rare geographical occurrences. This well's precise location is Pali-Beawar state highway, one kilometre right from Rajpur-Jhuta village.
TOI
The owner of the well is Bhuraram, a poor farmer, and the well is named Nokhra Bera.
"Even the ground water department and members of the Geological Survey of India were not aware of any geothermal well in Rajasthan, so we may take it to be the first in the state," said Pushpendra Singh Ranawat, retired professor of geology and member of the geo-heritage wing of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), who recently visited the site.
Cooling down the water to ambient temperature is necessary so it can be used to irrigate agricultural fields.For this, the flowing water is collected in a small open tank made of cement, from where it hits a wide weir and channelled into a much larger cemented and open tank. Here, the water is allowed to cool down before being released for irrigation.
TOI
Though the rock exposures are not present in the area, geologists believe that the metamorphosed mica schist of Delhi Supergroup of rocks be the aquifer. A deep fissure or permeable contact in the area drives the groundwater deep into the earth's crust. Because of the geothermal gradient (30¡ãCkm), the water is heated in these hot rocks at depth and is driven up again to give rise to this rare feature. Hot water can hold higher quantities of dissolved salts that they collect during their journey through the rocks. Hence, this brackish water is high in total dissolved salts (TDS) 3600 ppm, (permissible limit PL, is 2000 ppm), high in chlorides 1800 ppm (PL 1000 ppm), high in fluoride 2.5 ppm (PL1.5 ppm), pH=7.5, turbidity=0.5, nitrates 14 ppm. Being non-volcanic geothermal water it does not have sulphur.
"Being located on the road and near to the Barr and Sendra National Geological Monuments, this site has potential to be an attractive destination for a tourist and should be promoted under the "Cluster" Scheme. As it is a private property, the owner can be guided to develop it as a destination of interest to tourists, which may generate additional revenue for him," Ranawat suggests.