Delhi Jal Board directed to Monitor City’s ground water resources
Despite strict regulations groundwater levels in the city’s south and southwest districts has declined. The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) take up the matter with Delhi chief secretary P K Tripathi who in turn directed Delhi Jal Board to probe groundwater decline.
In 2010-11 only about 350 permissions were granted for borewells by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the nodal agency for monitoring and regulating the city’s ground water resources, despite which groundwater levels continued to dip. This was because the committee was concentrating on clearing projects instead of regulating the illegal extraction of water. Despite that officials have been taking utmost care in granting clearance to only extremely urgent projects.
“DJB has always been under tremendous pressure from MLAs to clear borewell projects for their respective constituencies. Once it came to our notice that levels have been falling despite all measures, we have written to all MLAs, asking them to nominate only very special and necessary projects,” said sources in DJB.
Sources said that regulation and monitoring of ground water resources is supposed to have been a joint effort between DJB, the revenue department and police and it was the latter two agencies which were responsible for ensuring that rules were being complied with.
The levels of groundwater have fallen the maximum in south and southwest Delhi, the first two areas to have been notified for ground water extraction and where officials have allegedly been keeping a strict watch on illegal extractions.
Monitoring of borewells and ensuring that illegal extraction does not take place is the responsibility of the DC of each area.However, they claim they do not have sufficient manpower to monitor each area closely. Reports have also been received of collusion between government officials and property owners to facilitate illegal boring.
“In some cases people had taken permission to set up a rainwater harvesting structure but instead used it to extract water illegally. Concerned agencies should not spare defaulters,” said a government official.
Decline in levels of groundwater, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi NCR, illegal water connections, Monitor City ground water resources
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