SECMC's clarification about Thar's underground water

Revealing some of the unknown facts and breaking a commonly perceived myth, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) has clarified that the mining project of Thar Coal Block II will pump out only 0.02% of underground water, which will not at all impact the drinking water sources. The water being extracted comes from the 2nd and 3rd aquifers which are at 120 m and 180 m, below the surface and are not connected to the top aquifer at 55 m being used by locals for their drinking water purposes, said Waqas Abdul Aziz, Manager Hydrogeology at SECMC in a statement issued here Friday.
Considering the scale of mining operations and potential of underground water in the region of Thar, only 0.02% of underground water will be pumped out per year from the estimated available water in the region of Thar, he said. Citing the reasons for dewatering the mine, Waqas said that for smooth mining operations depressurization of underground water is necessary to reach the depth of Coal, which is available at 150 meters.
"We need to understand this fact that for mining operations our main target is to depressurize Coal seam roof and floor aquifer not to dewater them completely," he said. He explained that Thar Coal region has mainly three underground aquifers available at 55, 120 and 180 meters, respectively.
The first aquifer is the primary source of drinking water for the people of Thar, which is not being dewatered during the mining operations, added Waqas. Saying that the depressurising water ranges salinity from 4000 to 5000 ppm, Waqas said that "total groundwater potential for the area of coal deposits 9100km2 is approximately 67 to 73 Billion m3."
He was of the view that mining operations at Block II are continuously depressurising 2nd and 3rd aquifer only to reach target coal depth of 180m through the network of 27 dewatering wells installed in the periphery of mine in an area of around 1.5 Km2 in Block II. Waqas also said that these wells are designed to only target 2nd & 3rd aquifer and ensuring that there is no effect on 1st Aquifer, it is also important to note that there is no vertical connectivity in these three aquifers as they are separated by thick clay layers which bound the water inside the rock formation contacts. On top of it, he concluded that the dewatering wells are specifically designed by feeding in clay sealing within the annular space of wells to restrict any mixing of these aquifer waters.