No oil in underground water

The National Building Research Institute, which was carrying out Radar assisted testing of underground water around Chunnakam, as a part of the testing commissioned by the Agricultural Ministry of the NPC, had reported that no oil traces are found in the underground water resources but there seem to be some other type of deposit and that action will be taken next week to drill out this deposit and analyse it.

People in the area complained that the ground water in the Chunnakam area (Valikamam general area) is contaminated with crude oil. People were complaining that the water smelt like crude oil and a substantial number of wells were showing signs of contamination.

Ground water contamination in the Valikamam area of the North, particularly in the Chunnakam area has directed the attention of authorities towards the ground water situation of the entire country.

There is a persisting problem in the ground waters of the entire country, according to experts. the changing rainfall patterns due to Climate Change will impact Sri Lanka’s groundwater aquifers.

Not only the drought, but intense rain during a short period of time, will also disturb groundwater recharging cycles, as it will not allow rain water to leach down, but runoff quickly into rivers.

The presence of buildings prevents rainwater from leaching, hence leaching in urban areas is severely reduced, which slows down groundwater recharge, while groundwater extraction for commercial purposes is increasing. Hence, there should be solution to the groundwater issue, water experts said.