Bandu Kaka aka Vasant Joshi, who stay in Murud, has been working as a ‘water seeker’ for the past 40 years. He is 79 years old. Bandu Kaka was born in Murud on 26th June 1939. He is the 3rd among his 12 siblings. His parents passed away when he was very young, and owing to the difficult situation being faced, he couldn’t continue with his education. But still, he managed to become a matric in marathi medium.
One day he came across an extremely old and historic scripture. This book contained information about how to find water in any geography and how to build a well. Being fond of reading, he read the book and was obsessed with finding water. As per the instructions in the book, he started studying various geographies, the water pipes in them, vegetation, wildlife and directions.
He started testing his knowledge at his hometown first, and then proceeding to other places, gradually becoming a master in it. Now, many people, even from other Jillhas, summon him for his expertise as a water seeker. Bandu Kaka can find water with the help of just a copper wire and a compass. He says that, when you tie a copper wire to your finger, you can feel the vibrations coming from the earth, and once you know how to recognize these vibrations, you can locate the locate water.
There is a big difference old and new ways of finding water and building wells. In old days, a mixture of Hirda, Behada & Avalkathi was applied on the stones. This doesn’t create crevices in the stones compared to the process where dynamite is used. Due to this, water doesn’t percolate. Also, with modern methods, you can find direction of the water but not the stream of underground water. As per the records, there are sweet and salty types of underground water streams, and finding the correct one is very necessary. The increasing number of bore wells is increasing nowadays and this is causing the decrease of underground water. Raising his concerns on this issue, Bandu Kaka says that the only way to solve the shortage of underground water is to start farming from the hills to the low lying areas on as much fertile land as possible. Only then the level of underground water will not vanish. Almost 70% of all the wells in Dapoli have been made with the help of Bandu Kaka. He is well known in all of Dapoli as an experienced water seeker.
