Regulation of Extraction of Groundwater

The Prime Minister, in his speech at the inaugural ceremony of India Water Week on April 10, 2012 while expressing concern over the scarcity of water in the Country, had indicated that the present legal situation gives every land holder the right to pump unlimited quantities of water from a bore well on his own ground and there is no regulation of ground water extraction and no coordination among the competing users. He had advocated the need to move to a situation where ground water can be treated as a common property resource and referred to a suggestion for a broad over-arching National Legal Framework of general principles on water to pave ways for essential legislation on water governance in every State. A Model Bill has been circulated by the Ministry of Water Resources to all the States/ Union Territories to enable them to enact groundwater legislation for its regulation and development. The Ministry has also evolved a draft National Water Policy, 2012 recommending a National Water Framework Law comprising general principles to lead the way for essential legislation on water governance in every State of the Union. Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has fixed norms for abstraction of groundwater by industry using water as raw material. CGWA evaluates proposals based on guidelines/ criteria for evaluation of proposals and specific technical studies for issuing ‘No Objection Certificate’ for withdrawal of groundwater for new industry / project falling in over-exploited, critical and semi-critical areas in the Country. Random inspections of the industries are carried out to ensure that the conditions laid down in the ‘No Objection Certificate’, such as limiting withdrawals to the prescribed limit, artificial recharge to augment ground water resources, ground water quality and water level monitoring and recycling / reuse of water are not violated. Further, it issues directions to large and medium industries using groundwater in the over-exploited and critical areas to take up water conservation measures. This information was given by Union Water Resources Minister Shri Harish Rawat in the Rajya Sabha today in reply to a written question.