Meters to be mandatory on all borewells in Delhi as per new draft policy

All domestic and commercial borewells in Delhi will have to be fitted with water meters and users will be charged based on the amount of groundwater they extract under a new borewell policy being drafted by the Delhi government, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday

All domestic and commercial borewells in Delhi will have to be fitted with water meters and users will be charged based on the amount of groundwater they extract under a new borewell policy being drafted by the Delhi government, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday. The proposed policy will also provide a mechanism to regularise thousands of unauthorised borewells currently operating across the Capital.

Meters to be mandatory on all borewells in Delhi as per new draft policy

Officials said the draft policy has been prepared, although the government is yet to finalise the tariff for groundwater extraction.

A senior government official, requesting anonymity, said the policy seeks to move beyond the current system of one-time approvals by introducing continuous monitoring and user charges linked to actual groundwater consumption.

“There are provisions from the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) regarding environmental compensation for illegal borewells, but there is no tariff for legal groundwater extraction. We have sought inputs from the CGWB and the environment department on the pricing framework. Under the new system, every borewell connection will be metered and consumers will pay according to the amount of groundwater extracted. The policy will also provide a pathway for regularising existing unauthorised borewells,” the official said.

A DJB spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment till the time of going to print.

At present, installing a borewell without prior approval is prohibited. Applications are scrutinised by district-level advisory committees comprising officials from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), district administration, CGWB and other agencies. The committees examine groundwater availability and generally grant permissions only in areas where groundwater levels are not categorised as critical.

A second DJB official said applicants currently pay only a one-time processing fee of ₹500, after which there is no monitoring of how much groundwater is extracted.

“This system has been in place since 2010. Once permission is granted, there is no mechanism to track extraction. The new policy seeks to address this gap by introducing mandatory metering and recurring user charges, similar to water bills,” the official said.

Officials said the draft policy has been shared with CGWB under the Union ministry of Jal Shakti for consultation, particularly on fixing groundwater usage charges.

The move follows an announcement made by the Delhi government in the Assembly in March, when water minister Parvesh Verma said a comprehensive borewell policy would be introduced to address groundwater depletion, illegal borewells and water shortages, particularly in unauthorised colonies.

On March 27, Verma had said domestic borewells would be regularised through a simplified process under which consumers could obtain a no-objection certificate after paying a nominal fee. He had also acknowledged that the existing approval mechanism was cumbersome and that thousands of unauthorised borewells had proliferated across the city.

Besides introducing monthly billing, the policy is expected to retain stringent penalties for illegal extraction to encourage users to regularise unauthorised borewells.

Currently, environmental compensation for illegal groundwater extraction is calculated using a formula based on the volume of water extracted per day, the duration of extraction, location-specific compensation rates and a deterrence factor. The minimum penalty is ₹1 lakh regardless of location, while violations in critical groundwater zones can attract substantially higher fines. Officials said extracting groundwater for eight hours daily over a year in a critical area can result in penalties of around ₹9.5 lakh.

“The idea is to simplify permissions for genuine users, particularly in areas where piped water supply remains difficult, while ensuring groundwater extraction is monitored and regulated. Rainwater harvesting will also be encouraged so that groundwater recharge improves,” another official said.

The proposed reforms come even as Delhi’s groundwater indicators have shown gradual improvement over the past few years.

According to the latest Central Ground Water Board assessment for 2024-25, Delhi extracted 0.32 billion cubic metres (BCM) of groundwater while recharge during the same period was estimated at 0.38 BCM.

Of the Capital’s 34 groundwater assessment units, 10 (29.41%) are currently categorised as over-exploited, 11 (32.35%) as critical, six (17.65%) as semi-critical and seven (20.59%) as safe.

The figures mark an improvement over the previous years. In 2023-24, 14 assessment units (41.18%) were classified as over-exploited and 13 (38.24%) as critical. The number of over-exploited units stood at 13 in 2022-23 and 15 in 2021-22.