As per the Act, borewells should not exceed 4.5-inch in diameter
A borewell machine that was seized by revenue officials near Parki Lake. (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: Environmentalists and activists fighting for the protection of lakes say that the illegal water mafia can be dealt with effectively if a monitoring cell with special powers is formed.
Jasveen Jairath, a member of Save Our Urban Lakes, said, “Section 3 (2) of the WALTA enables the government to nominate non-officials to its authorities at different levels, for conservation of scarce natural resources. But this has been pending for a long time.”
The apathy of government departments, like the mandal revenue department that is supposed keep tabs on illegal borewell drilling, and the groundwater department, which issues licenses to borewell rigging machines, has led to illegal borewells in the city.
As per the Water, Air, Land and Trees Act (WALTA), borewells should not exceed 4.5-inch in diameter and 500-foot in depth for domestic use. But the mandal revenue offices do not maintain the figures of the number of borewells in their jurisdiction.
Ramesh Kumar, deputy director of groundwater department, said, “There is a need for co-ordination between all three departments, GHMC, revenue department and Groundwater department to deal with this issue.”
( Source : dc correspondent )
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