M A I N   N E W S

Water-table depletion alarming
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Nov 20 — In a development which will grate on the sensibilities of those who wish to settle in Gurgaon city and scare the potential investors, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), a body of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), has identified major parts of this city for declaring them as notified area on account of the alarming rate at which the ground water has declined.

The Director of the CGWA, Dr V.M. Sikka, told TNS the declaration would be made shortly. All formalities have been completed and the spadework done before resorting to the drastic measure, he added. He further said the ground water situation in Gurgaon city and its adjoining industrial area was very “serious”.

The declaration would be made under Section-3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The immediate effect of the declaration would be that all tubewells in the areas concerned would have to be registered with the office of the specified authority. No new tubewells, even by the government, can be installed without the prior permission of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon. Of course, the CGWA will be keeping a tab on the implementation of the declaration.

Significantly, the CGWA was created following a directive of the Supreme Court to deal with exigencies resulting from pollution of water resources and depletion of ground water in the country. Hence, the administration would have to bear the cross and invite contempt of court if it does not play ball with the CGWA.

The development exposes the successive governments in the state and brings to the fore the political-land mafia and high-ups in the nexus which encouraged rampant commercialisation of land in this city. This was obviously with an eye for fast money to all concerned without a shred of thought spared to a vital commodity such as water. A member and secretary of the CGWA, Dr A.N. Bhowmick, asserted construction activity had mushroomed without giving a thought to the depleting water resource to sustain the concerned areas.

According to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, Mr Apoorva Kumar Singh, the areas have been identified by the CGWA. The CGWA has made a proposal to the state government for declaration of Gurgaon town and its adjoining industrial area in this district as notified area. The declaration has to be made by the state government.

Mr Apoorva Kumar Singh apparently tried to play down the development saying that although things looked serious they could improve with some remedial measures. According to him, tough measure will be resorted to only to conserve the underground water resources in the critical areas. The establishment’s gung-ho posture is understandable when considered that the government and influential non-governmental quarters have high stakes in keeping up the good image of this city and its nearabouts for the effect of its marketability to domestic and foreign investors.

He said the areas identified to be covered under the notified area are the old city area (Sector 8), HUDA’s Sectors 12 and 12A, Sectors 11 and 11A, Sectors 15 Part 1 and II, Sector 16, Sector 14, Sector 18, Sector 19 and Sector 22. Unofficial sources said a number of sectors of HUDA and other areas in Gurgaon are borderline cases.

The district administration has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Mr Apoorva Kumar Singh consisting of representatives of related departments and hydrologists to take stock of the situation. The participants at a meeting held a few days ago discussed in detail the ground water condition and its exploitation and its effect on the water-table in the city and its adjoining area comprising of 350 sq km. The participants at the meeting were of the view that at present, the situation with regard to decline in the water-table was grave in the central part of the city and in some of the HUDA sectors where the water-table fall was more than 0.5 metre per annum.

Mr Singh said in view of the water crisis the building byelaws may be amended in order to force the quarters concerned to take suitable measures for harvesting of water for getting the completion certificates. The measures for recharging from storm water should also be considered by HUDA and other departments concerned like Public Health.

The committee is of the view that recharge measures through rain water harvesting should be adopted for which building byelaws must be amended so that all plot holders having area 500 sq metre and above, institutional buildings, factories and residential and commercial complexes etc are compulsorily made to instal water recharge system in the new constructions.

Significantly, the CGWA had organised a seminar here under its nationwide mass awareness programme last month to impress upon the residents the gravity of the problem. On the occasion the authorities and the scientists of the organisation had said that not only Gurgaon city but major parts of the district were facing acute problem of either depletion of ground water or brackish water. If the utterances in the seminar are any indication the identification of parts of the city for declaration of notified area is like touching merely the tip of the problem.

Our Correspondent adds from Jhajjar: With a steep decline in the water-level in many districts, particularly in the southern part of the state, the region has been heading towards a serious ground water crisis.

According to sources in the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ambala city are in grip of a severe water crisis where water-table has phenomenally dropped down by 20 to 25 feet since the past five years.

Keeping in view the gravity of the situation the CGWA has decided to clamp down on boring for ground water in a major part of Faridabad, Arh and Ambala city declaring these areas as a ‘dark zone’.

Meanwhile, the sources confirmed that the CGWA had spotted another 350 sq km area of Gurgaon district to declare it as a ‘dark zone’. A letter in this regard had been dispatched to the Haryana Government. Later, the government wrote to the Gurgaon administration following which the Deputy Commissioner held a meeting of officials of departments concerned to discuss the matter.

The sources said that the administration had requested to the CGWA to exclude some areas. However, it had cleared the way for about 60 villages, including some parts of the city to be declared as ‘dark zones’. A notification was going to be issued in this regard at the earliest, the sources added.

Apart from this, the water-table has also fallen considerably in Jhajjar and Mahendragarh districts in the past few years. Farmers in this area asserted that they were facing an acute shortage of irrigation and drinking water due to a steep decline in the ground water as it was the major source of water there.

According to residents in Matenhale, at least 20 per cent of the total tubewells bored for irrigation had collapsed during this season, indicating that water level in that area had fallen by 5 to 7 feet in a couple of years which is a clear indication of a serious water crisis ahead.

Experts, however, hold below average rainfall for a few years in a row and exploitation of ground water on a large scale responsible for creating such a grim situation.