60 builders, industries illegally extract groundwater, govt initiates action

A  total of 60 builders and industries have been found extracting groundwater illegally in the city.

The defaulters include SS Group, Raheja Developers, Amazon Ware Houses, Aricent Technoloy Ltd, Avery Denisen, FDl India etc.

Taking a stern stance, the Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA) has formed a committee that would visit these sites and seal borewells if violators don't comply with norms within three weeks.

Earlier, the HWRA issued notices to four builders but none of them has responded so far.

Keshni Anand Arora, Chairperson, HWRA, constituted a committee comprising chief hydrologist Pankaj Mahla, enforcement officers from the Town and Country Planning Department and regional officials from the Haryana State Pollution Control Board.

This panel would inspect all sites and document the violations. Industrialists or builders can file their replies to get approval for extracting groundwater within 21 days, failing which the borewells would be sealed.

A final report on the committee's findings and actions taken would be submitted to the HWRA by June 16.

Majority of these sites are located in Gurugram, which has highest construction activity on.

“ The water is being illegally used in construction in majority of areas. We have given repeated notices to these builders but to no avail. We will now go ahead and penalise them. Any further defiance will attract stricter action,” said a member of the committee.

To ensure that the process goes smoothly, district officials have been asked to cooperate with the panel and deploy security personnel to support the committee's field visits.

It may be noted that groundwater levels in Gurugram have been classified as "overexploited" since 2013 by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). In 2024, Gurugram extracted 214 per cent of the permissible limit of groundwater.