Water table dipping, but only 13 violations on record this year

GURGAON: Only 13 cases of illegal extraction of

groundwater

have been officially registered in Gurgaon in the past 10 months, even as the city’s groundwater levels continue to plunge at an alarming rate. Last year, 36 cases were registered, while 22 came to light in 2015. Authorities attribute this dip to better vigilance on groundwater extraction mafia, but activists are not convinced.

According to an RTI response, 12 cases of

illegal boring

have been registered with the district’s groundwater cell till now in this year and one case has been registered against ‘sale and supply’ of groundwater. The chief minister’s flying squad alone sealed seven borewells in the city. These cases have been reported from Carterpuri, Sheetla Colony, Shivaji Nagar, Amar Colony, Saraswati Enclave, Garatpur Bas, Ullahwas, Nawada Fatehpur, Kanhai and Wazirpur.

Activists, however, blamed the authorities for not being vigilant on the issue.

“The RTI response exposes the vigilance mechanism of the authorities. The city undergoes severe water crisis every year. Water tanker mafia is operating in large numbers in the city. How is it possible that only 13 cases have been registered in this matter,” asked Aseem Takyar, who had filed the RTI application.

With an estimate that its current population is 20 lakh, the city requires around 150 MGD (million gallons per day) water but Huda supplies only 75-80 MGD. The rest is met by groundwater extraction through illegal borewells. TOI has time and again raised concerns about the city’s depleting water table and illegal extraction of groundwater. In a report, dated June 6 this year, TOI even highlighted how four crore litres of groundwater are drawn out every day in Gurgaon through illegal borewells.

“The issue is that groundwater extraction is never taken seriously by authorities, despite that Gurgaon is slipping into a dark zone. There is illegal boring at all new construction sites. It seems the authorities are sleeping on the matter,” said

Siddharth Gupta

, a resident of Sector 53, who has been working in the area of water conservation for the past six years.

Both Punjab and Haryana high court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) have many a time ordered the authorities to ensure that no illegal extraction of groundwater takes place in Gurgaon, he added.

Authorities, on the other hand, called it a success. “We are reporting fewer cases now as people are aware about the

violations

. We have also strengthened the complaint mechanism and address promptly all the complaints we get about illegal extraction, sale and supply of groundwater,” said a senior official.