HC directs petitioners to approach PWD for drawing water

The Madras High Court today directed a batch of petitioners and appellants from Tiruppur area in Tamil Nadu to approach the State Public Works Department to permit them to draw water from the bore wells from Palladam and Tiruppur.
Some writ petitions were filed to direct authorities not to restrain them from extracting water from the bore wells of Tiruppur and Palladam for their domestic and industrial purposes.
But the authorities voluntarily impleaded themselves as parties to these petitions to oppose any relief to be granted to the parties.
A single judge, who rejected the prayer of impleading made by New Tiruppur Area Development Corporation on the ground that the authority was a needed party for the petition allowed the petitions on January 12, 2009.

While allowing, the judge had said that in the absence of any order issued by government under Section 9 of the Tamil Nadu Ground Water (Development and Management Act), 2003, the police or revenue authorities have any power to restrict or obstruct them from drawing water from bore wells and open wells and transporting them.
The present appeal was against the order passed by the single judge.

When the matter came up before the Division Bench comprising Justices Chitra Venkataraman and T S Sivagnanam, Advocate General A L Somayaji submitted that the above act was repealed this year.
He also produced a copy of the ordinance passed by the Government on September 3 and another copy of PWD categorising the area wise for water exploitation.

On a perusal of both the Division bench ordered that the proper course would be to set-aside the order of Single judge as well as the impleading petitions and directed both sides to approach the PWD to get a decision from the Department to know under which category their locality falls in.