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Rebello’s technique to revive dry borewells works by harvesting rainwater to bring up the water table; his method could also prevent tragedies in abandoned borewells

It was a debilitating accident that changed the course of Joseph GM Rebello’s life. Once a bus driver, today he champions social and environmental causes in Udupi. Lately, he has come up with a unique way of recharging dry borewells.

Rebello (39) from Kallianpur says his method of recharging dead borewells also works to bring up the water table. “I have made presentations before several colleges and associations on this technique,” he told Mirror.

Rebello explains the process: “We dig a pit that is 10 feet deep and 10 feet wide around the abandoned borewell. To make it safe, it is then covered but only in a way that water can percolate through a 5 mm hole in the casing and a mesh is placed that acts as a filter. The rainwater that trickles down brings up the water table.”

He also promotes rainwater harvesting and has built several models to explain it.

Rebello’s journey towards becoming a conservationist is an unexpected one. After Class X, he took a diploma course and joined a private bus operator as a driver on the Mangaluru-Udupi route. “I was working as a driver for an express bus for 10 years,” he says.

But life changed dramatically when he fell from a tree one day in 2010 and damaged his spinal cord. “For 12 months, I was bedridden. After that, I had to learn to walk again. When I almost recovered, the owner of the private bus service for whom I worked before offered me a job at Shri Madhwa Vadiraja Institute of Technology and Management in Udupi. I was appointed as a driver for the institute’s bus,” says Rebello.

This was the turning point in his life, he says. With a lot of time on his hands now, he started attending gram panchayat meetings. The then panchayat development officer recognised his resourcefulness and interest and included him in the Bharat Nirman Volunteer programme, even winning the best volunteer award in 2014.

He went for several trainings and was instrumental in the formation of the Social Audit Team in Udupi district. He continued to be highly active in social, civic and conservation issues.

“Gradually, I was introduced to various departments. At the college where I worked, I saw students planting trees for Vanamahotsava and then forgetting about it. I placed the plants with water bottles and implemented the drip irrigation system,” he says. The urge to put a dead borewell to use began when he was appointed convener of the Church Social Development Commission. When he found a defunct borewell, curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know how best to revive it. He consulted experts from across the State, read about rainwater harvesting and borewell recharge and finally developed his own model. It was inaugurated last year.

Prof Narayan Shenoy from Manipal University gave him notes and even prepared a PowerPoint Presentation for him. Now, with a laptop that is almost 14 years old, Rebello visits various parts of the state promoting rainwater harvesting and borewell recharge. His dream came true when he was invited as the resource person to the Abdul Nasir Sab State Institute for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Institute and Training Centre in Mysuru where he actually wanted to be trained.

Joseph G. M. Rebello honoured with Best Udupi District level Bharat Nirman Volunteer at Dhavanagere

Rain Water Harvesting unit inaugurated at Mount Rosary Church premises