Unauthorised bore wells drilled in Kumarhatti area to be sealed
The Jal Shakti Department (JSD) will soon seal unauthorised bore wells drilled in the Kheel Jasli area of Kumarhatti as a majority of them have failed to submit requisite documents despite being served a seven-day notice.
Superintending Engineer, JSD, Solan, Sanjeev Soni said, “The field staff had conducted an inspection in the Kheel Jasli area after receipt of complaints of unauthorised bore wells. Despite lapse of the seven-day notice period, no reply had been furnished by a majority of the bore well owners or drilling agencies. These will be sealed for violating the HP Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2022 (amended).
About 70 notices were issued to bore well owners as well as agencies engaged in drilling bore wells and they were supposed provide details like registration with the HP Groundwater Authority, flow meter for measuring the volume of water being used, month and year of drilling the bores, details of drilling agency including whether it is registered with the authority, purpose of drilling the bore as well as bill raised by the agency.
A majority of them have failed to provide the requisite details in the stipulated seven days, thus inviting punitive action.
As per section 9(3) of the HP Ground Water Amendment Act, 2022, no unregistered drilling agency or rig owner is permitted to construct ground water abstraction structures and in case of default he would be liable for a penalty.
Realtors have been extracting large volumes of water and supplying it to several flats in the Kheel-Jasli area without any registration for years. With little check by the Jal Shakti Department, this activity has been going on with impunity for years much to the dismay of the local villagers who have been facing a sharp decline in their water bodies as such bore wells are concentrated within a pocket.
The manner in which the business of unauthorised bore wells was proliferating in the Kumarhatti and Kasauli area presented a paradoxical situation. While the local residents were bereft of adequate water as the Jal Shakti Department had limited funds to augment the water supply infrastructure, realtors were quick to tap the natural sources and make a bargain by drilling unauthorised bore wells.
Emboldened by the lax approach of the authorities, realtors in the Sanawar area did not even hesitate to drill bore wells on government land and make a profit by selling it. Despite complaints to the department, little action has been initiated to seal such unauthorised bore wells.
Himachal Tribune