By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: To check misuse of ground water, the Centre has directed all users, including small scale industries, drawing groundwater to install water flow meters. Any withdrawal without digital meters will invite penalty for illegally using underground water, it said.
The Central Ground Watet Authority (CGWA) had issued Guidelines to control and regulate ground water extraction in India in September 2020. It also called for installation of digital water flow meter having telemetry system.
The abstraction structure shall be mandatory for all users seeking No Objection Certificate and intimation regarding their installation shall be communicated to the Central Ground Water Authority withing 30 days of grant of the NOC through the web portal.
“All the project proponents/users drawing ground water and seeking/having NoC shall have to mandatorily install tamper-proof digital water flow meters with telemetry on all the ground water abstraction structures within their premises,” said latest directive from the CGWA .
It further says that All the micro and small enterprises drawing less than 10 cubic metre/day shall also be mandatorily required to install digital water flow meters on all ground water abstraction structures withing their premises. Such enterprises shall be subjected to randomised inspections.
“The aforementioned conditions need to be strictly followed by all the users and any groundwater withdrawal without the installation of tamper proof digital water flow meters and telemetry shall be constructed as illegal,” it added.