DPCC: 257 Paharganj guest houses extracting ground water illegally

A committee in Delhi has found that 257 guest houses in Paharganj are illegally extracting groundwater and action is being taken against them.

A joint committee headed by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it has found that 257 guest houses at Paharganj in central Delhi are illegally extracting groundwater, and they have begun initiating action against these establishments.

New Delhi, India- August 04, 2020: A view down a road dotted by hotels and guesthouses in Paharganj, New Delhi, India on Tuesday, August 04, 2020. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times) (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

A detailed report will be submitted within four weeks’ time on the penalties imposed, DPCC said.

On April 13, NGT formed a joint committee comprising officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Central Groundwater Authority (CGWA), the Union environment ministry and the New Delhi district magistrate, asking it to look into allegations about guest houses in Paharganj illegally extracting groundwater. DPCC was made the nodal agency of the committee, alongside CPCB.

In its compliance report dated November 29, DPCC said it has inspected 536 guest houses in the area, of which 442 were found to be extracting groundwater. Of the remaining guest houses, 17 were found shut, and 77 were not using groundwater.

The report further said of the 442 guest houses using groundwater, 185 were using Delhi Jal Board’s Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS). “Therefore, out of the 536, 257 guest houses were found extracting groundwater without having Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS). Action against such guest houses is under process and a complete action taken report shall be filed before NGT in four weeks,” the submission said.

What is VDS?

Delhi’s environment department came up with VDS in 2014, asking residents to come forward and disclose information about borewells they were utilising. However, no additional fees are sought for such a disclosure.

DPCC said some of the guest houses shared letters from DJB, where such units were permitted to draw groundwater.

Pawan Mittal, general secretary of the Paharganj Hotel Mahasangh, an association of guest houses in the area, said, “Water is a basic requirement, and no hotel or guest house can do without it.”

He said, till last year, DJB collected ₹1,700 per month as charges to extract this water. “This has now been stopped by them, as they said they will find a solution to this problem.” he said.

In another submission, made by the SDM (Karol Bagh) — under whose jurisdiction Paharganj comes — NGT was told that while two guest houses were sealed on November 2, owners of other such establishments created a ruckus, preventing further sealing.