Govt finalising comprehensive policy to curb illegal groundwater extraction, DJB tells NGT

The board said that even though around 11,000 registrations were received, it did not have the legal authority to process applications, impose penalties or regulate extraction.

New Delhi: The Delhi government is finalising a comprehensive borewell and groundwater extraction policy to enable action against illegal withdrawal of groundwater, the Delhi Jal Board(DJB) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The DJB said the framework was in an advanced stage and feedback has been shared with the environment department. (Representative picture)

Submitting an affidavit, the DJB said the framework was in an advanced stage and feedback has been shared with the environment department.

The announcement was made in a fresh status report submitted to the tribunal on December 1, while responding to directions on unchecked groundwater extraction by Paharganj guesthouses for nearly a decade. DJB said that it has no statutory powers to penalise violators, but has collected ₹6.36 crore in water cess and sewerage charges.

DJB added that the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, cited by hotels and guest houses to justify groundwater extraction, never had any legal standing. It said the scheme was operationalised only through a 2014 public notice and never through any formal notification.

As per the submission, the NGT merely discussed the idea of a voluntary disclosure mechanism in 2013, followed by an advertisement, without creating a binding legal framework. The board said that even though around 11,000 registrations were received, it did not have the legal authority to process applications, impose penalties or regulate extraction.

“Consequently, no penalty was officially imposed or collected from any registrant,” the report stated.

The submission comes months after the tribunal, in February 2025, called the scheme a “scam” and pointed out that 442 of 536 identified Paharganj guest houses continued extracting groundwater without metering, payment or regulation. It had also asked the Delhi chief secretary to investigate financial losses, environmental damage and identify officials responsible for allowing permissions for the same in the name of a “non-existent” scheme.

Meanwhile, DJB said groundwater regulation is the mandate of the Department of Environment, district level advisory committee (DLAC), district magistrates and the central ground water authority (CGWA). Under the 2010 notification, DJB said its role is limited to receiving applications and functioning as the DLAC secretariat without any authority to impose penalties.

“The notification of July 2010 merely designates the DJB, New Delhi Municipal Council, as the competent authority for processing applications related to groundwater extraction; however, it does not confer upon competent authority (DJB, NDMC), any independent statutory power to impose penalties, undertake enforcement, or initiate punitive action against unauthorized groundwater extraction,” it stated.

DJB also said it never received any direction to install meters on VDS-declared tubewells and can legally install meters only on DLAC-approved borewells.

Following NGT’s directions, DJB said it has now instructed all Paharganj establishments drawing groundwater to install meters. Twenty-two have complied, with the highest extraction recorded at 2.31 KLD, which remains below the 10 KLD threshold exempted from abstraction charges under a 2020 CGWA notice.