WB govt for stronger legislation against misuse of groundwater

West Bengal Government is planning a move to bring an amendment to a relevant act to prevent misuse of ground water and for punishment to offenders.
Replying to a question in the Assembly, Water Investigation and Development Minister Soumen Mahapatra said the amendments to 'The West Bengal Ground Water Resources (Management, Control and Regulation) Act, 2005', was ready and was placed before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for clearance.
After clearance, the Bill is likely to be moved during the next session of the Assembly, he said.
Among the measures for making the amendment more stringent, misuse or theft of ground water could even lead to imprisonment, when earlier a small fine was levied.

With the legislation, the minister hoped that flouting of directives on use of deep tube wells would be checked and aqua management would be strengthened.
It would also reduce misuse of ground water by industries both in urban and rural areas, he said.

Replying to a supplementary question, Mahapatra said that the number of semi-critical blocks have increased to 38 from only ten during the erstwhile Left Front regime.
This would be brought down to 15 within one year from now.
The minister also said that rainwater harvesting would be accorded top priority for clearing plans for new buildings, besides appointment of 'Jalbandhu' (persons to keep tab on ground water use) to keep watch against misuse or theft of ground water in the state.