NGT seals illegal borewell in central Delhi

NGT has asked DPCC not to proceed with environmental compensation till further orders in this regard

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has found and sealed an illegal borewell in Manakpura, near Karol Bagh in central Delhi, which a local resident was using to extract groundwater for the past eight months, people familiar with the matter said. NGT has also had the electricity supply to the premises disconnected, they added.

NGT seals illegal borewell in central Delhi

The action was taken by a joint committee, constituted by NGT in March, after a local resident Naresh Kumar, filed a petition alleging the existence of a water supply mafia in the neighbourhood. The panel comprises representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) member secretary, the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) chief executive officer, and the district magistrate (central).

“That there is an aqua problem of depleting groundwater in our area and this is happening due to illegal extraction of ground water by water supply mafia... groundwater is being extracted at brisk pace and in huge quantity for the last about more than 7- 8 months,” the plea had said, adding that the water was being used for commercial purposes.

In its order dated May 30, a bench comprising NGT judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad observed that the joint committee carried out a site inspection on May 19.

“That, during the visit by the said joint committee, it was observed that on the site...there existed an illegal borewell. As no water meter was there, in the absence of it, it was not possible to know the amount of water that had been extracted illegally by the project proponent,” the order said, adding that while the borewell has been sealed and the electricity disconnected, it is looking to ascertain the final environmental compensation (EC) amount by keeping in mind possible extraction for seven or eight months.

The order said that a case on competence of state pollution control boards to impose EC is still pending before the Supreme Court and the Allahabad high court and so, the final EC will be decided only after these cases are resolved.

“DPCC is also directed not to proceed for imposition of EC till further orders by this tribunal in this regard,” NGT said.

Last month, district magistrates in Delhi informed NGT that 15,962 illegal borewells had been sealed, but more than 4,000 identified by DJB couldn’t be traced on the ground. Earlier, 20,297 illegal borewells were identified by DJB that were impacting Delhi’s groundwater table.