32 Faridabad units fined Rs 10 lakh each for extraction of water sans permission

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, April 14

The Municipal Corporation (MC), Faridabad, has served notices on 32 units, including private companies and residential societies, for unauthorised extraction of groundwater. The civic agency has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh each against these offenders, officials of the MC said.

Demand notices served

The units that have been served notices were extracting groundwater without permission. They have been served demand notices of Rs 10 lakh. MC official

A majority of the units served notices are located in Zone II of the MC. The action comes after a survey was carried out recently for tracking use of unauthorised tubewells in the parts of NIT area of the city, said an official.

“The units that have been served notices were extracting groundwater without permission. They have been served demand notices of Rs 10 lakh. If the management of the units fail to respond, the civic body may disconnect the water supply,” he added.

The official also said the civic body had launched a scheme for regularising unauthorised tubewell connections in the residential societies as per the government norms. “People with such connections can initiate the regularising process after payment of a penalty,” he added.

The Haryana Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority (HWRA) had found 112 units violating the water extraction norms in the city last year. The authority has also sought a report from the district administration regarding the illegal extraction of water.

Sources in the authority claimed that the number of unauthorised tubewells in the district could be nearly 1,000. “Illegal water supply is resulting in revenue loss to the MC and depletion of the water table. The exact data of unauthorised water sources in the city is yet to be made public. Several tankers have been employed to supply water that has been extracted by unauthorised means,” an official of the district administration said.

A 2021-22 report of the Atal Bhujal Yojna (ABY) said against a total recharge capacity of 11,034.07 hectare-metre (HM) of water, around 22,151.60 HM was being extracted in the district. As a result, the water table has declined by more than 10 metres in the past 15 years.

The water table in the majority of the spots have depleted by 10 to 12 metres since 2008, the report read.

Moreover, the city is getting a supply of around 330 million litre (of water) daily (MLD) against a demand of 450 MLD.

The Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA) has started registration of the water tankers through QR code and Geo-tagging and fencing in order to regulate the water supply and to check its transportation to Delhi, said an official.

Water table dips 10 metres

• A 2021-22 report of the Atal Bhujal Yojna said against a total recharge capacity of 11,034.07 hectare-metre (HM) of water, around 22,151.60 HM was being extracted in the district
• As a result, the water table has declined by more than 10 metres in the past 15 years

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