law on Ground water use

• The Bengal government is likely to come up soon with a Groundwater Act to put a leash on wastage of underground water as a result of over-extraction, particularly within the city.
• The Water Resource Investigation & Development department has been asked to prepare an assessment report of the groundwater condition in all 341 blocks of the state, which will be submitted by the end of the year.
• While groundwater is mainly used for drinking, in agriculture and for industries, the unchecked boring of tubewells in the city has dropped water levels alarmingly.
• Groundwater should be used primarily for drinking, but in Bengal, it is mostly used for industrial and agricultural purposes. In Kolkata, unchecked boring of shallow and deep tubewells has led to a drop in groundwater levels. The government wants to stop this indiscriminate extraction of groundwater.
• According to the Central Groundwater Board, the average groundwater level in Kolkata was 7-10 metres even 20 years back, but that has reduced significantly over the last few years. Water level falling drastically in city

Water level falling drastically in city

• In central Kolkata, the groundwater level has dropped from five to 16m. A study in 2017 found the level at 14m to 16m below the ground in Alipore, Ballygunge, Kalighat, Park Circus and Babughat areas, while in Bansdroni and its surroundings, it stood at a depth of 9m-11m. In Garia, the level was between 8m and 10m.
• KMC itself owns more than 264 deep and 10,000 shallow tubewells, from where roughly more than 400 million litres of water is being pumped out daily.
• Of 341 blocks in Bengal, Goghat in Hooghly is critical, 53 are semi-critical and rest are safe. “The data is of 2013, but after that the groundwater situation has worsened and it needs to be evaluated.
• Moreover, Bengal has acute problem of salinity and arsenic, which was not addressed in the previous assessment. Not a single district is free from water contamination. Most districts have arsenic or iron-related problems in water.
• Senior officials of the state water resource development department said the existing West Bengal Groundwater Resources (Management, Control & Regulation) Act, 2005, is not comprehensive enough to check water extraction in all its forms. “The Act cannot stop anyone from extracting underground water.

The new act will have provisions for not only controlling the extraction of groundwater, but also allow the government to stop extraction in a particular block immediately. 

By: Ziyaur Rahman