13 fined ₹10 lakh each over illegal water extraction

Thirteen establishments in Gautam Budh Nagar have been fined ₹10 lakh each for illegally extracting groundwater without the necessary permits. Five establishments have paid the fine, while eight others have yet to comply. Further actions, such as sealing their borewells, will be considered if they fail to pay. The groundwater department will continue identifying and taking legal action against builders who deplete groundwater resources and fail to follow regulations. Last week, 17 establishments had their permits for groundwater extraction revoked for violating regulations.

The groundwater department in Gautam Budh Nagar has pinpointed 13 establishments, including ongoing construction projects, for flouting guidelines by illicitly extracting groundwater, officials said on Monday.

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Previously, these identified establishments were served notices and a penalty of ₹5 lakh each was imposed when they failed to secure a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for utilizing borewells to extract groundwater. However, since they did not comply with the initial notice and neglected to pay the fine, a subsequent fine of ₹10 lakh each has been levied.

Ankita Rai, a hydrologist with the groundwater department in Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “We identified 13 establishments that were illegally drawing groundwater through borewells without the requisite departmental approval. These establishments were issued notices a month ago and fined ₹5 lakh each. However, as they did not adhere to the notice and failed to pay the penalties, we have now imposed an additional fine of ₹10 lakh each.”

“Out of the identified offenders, five have paid the fine, while eight others have yet to comply with the notice and pay the penalty. We are waiting for these defaulters to make the payment, and if they fail to do so, further actions such as sealing their borewells will be considered,” the hydrologist added.

According to information from the groundwater department, all projects, whether residential, commercial, institutional, or large-scale developments, are required to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and receive clearance from the groundwater authority.

The hydrologist added, “We will continue identifying such builders in the city and take legal action against them for depleting precious groundwater resources and failing to adhere to the guidelines.”

Following the directives of district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma, the groundwater department identified 17 establishments across the district last week. These establishments had failed to install water recharge mechanisms and had violated other groundwater regulations within their respective buildings. As a punitive measure, the NOCs they had obtained for groundwater extraction were revoked by the Gautam Budh Nagar administration.