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.
Officials said the draft has been prepared, although the government is yet to finalise the tariff for groundwater extraction.
A senior government official 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.
Last year, officials had informed the National Green Tribunal that 15,962 illegal borewells had been sealed in the city. But officials admitted said that the real number of illegal borewells be far higher. “It is very difficult to identify illegal borewells as most are located within houses. The real number could be in hundreds of thousands. We are about to start a door-to-door survey for verification of water connections and are considering if details regarding borewells can also be collected as part of the survey,” the official said.
{{/usCountry}}Last year, officials had informed the National Green Tribunal that 15,962 illegal borewells had been sealed in the city. But officials admitted said that the real number of illegal borewells be far higher. “It is very difficult to identify illegal borewells as most are located within houses. The real number could be in hundreds of thousands. We are about to start a door-to-door survey for verification of water connections and are considering if details regarding borewells can also be collected as part of the survey,” the official said.
{{/usCountry}}A DJB spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment till 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. “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.
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. 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,” another official said.