About 60 companies, builders in Gurugram extracting groundwater illegally: HWRA panel

                Gurgaon: After finding out that 60 firms and 
builders in the city were illegally extracting 
groundwater, the Haryana Water Resources 
Authoritylast week formed a committee to visit 
the 
sites and seal these borewells if they don't 
comply with norms within three 
weeks.Officials said on Thursday that at least 
four notices have been issued to these builders 
but none of them 
responded.Most of these sites, where 
groundwater is being extracted, are in New 
Gurgaon – an area that was until a few years 
ago covered by farmlands, but it is now 
densely populated 
with dozens of housing societies lined along 
the Dwarka Expressway.HWRA chairperson 
Keshni Anand Arora constituted a joint 
committee of Gurgaon chief hydrologist 
Pankaj Mahla, 
enforcement officers from the town and 
country planning department, and regional 
officials from the Haryana State Pollution 
Control Board.This panel will inspect all the 
sites and 
document the violations.Afterwards, the 
companies or builders can file to get approval 
for extracting groundwater within 21 days, 
failing which the borewells will be sealed. "The 
move 
marks a strong message from the state 
authority amid growing concerns about 
depleting groundwater resources. Experts have 
long warned about environmental costs of 
unchecked 
urban development in Gurgaon, where high-rise 
apartments, commercial complexes and 
industrial units have increased water demand 
manifold," a senior official said on Thursday.To 
ensure that the process goes smoothly, district 
officials have been asked to cooperate with the 
panel and deploy security personnel to support 
the committee's field visits.A final report on 
the committee's findings and actions taken is 
to be submitted to HWRA by June 16.Depleting 
groundwater levels in a rapidly urbanising 
Gurgaon has been a cause for concern. 
Groundwater levels in the city have been 
classified as ‘overexploited' since 2013 by the 
Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).TOI 
had reported last year that Gurgaon drew an 
astounding 214% -- more than double -- of its 
total extractable groundwater in 2023, 
according to findings of a govt study. This was 
largely because of agriculture, rapid industrial 
growth, 
housing and commercial development and 
population boom in these regions, the study 
had said.Vikram Rao, a resident of Sector 92, 
said HWRA's action againstillegal groundwater 
extraction could become a "model for other 
districts facing similar challenges"."It 
underscores the urgent need for compliance 
and sustainable resource management as 
Haryana 
grapples with water scarcity and ecological 
strain," Rao said.


Source : Times of India