PANAJI: Goa govt has notified the amendments to the Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, which provides to “heavily penalise” those held guilty of illegally sinking a borewell and transporting ground water, or those found polluting ground water sources.
The amendment bill was passed in the monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly held last month.
The new law provides to impose a penalty Rs 10 lakh for illegal borewell, or for transportation. With the penalty for the offense going up, govt expects to contain the unabashed use of the state’s water resources by the real estate lobby.
An official said that big-ticket housing projects are approved and completed without as much as giving a thought to portable water supply for residents of such projects. In most urban areas, the official said residents of apartments heavily depend on tanker water for their daily needs. Supplying water through tankers, the officer said, is a lucrative business and people trade in heavily-exploited groundwater sources.
This depletes the water table and can affect ground water availability.
The law stipulates that a borewell has to be registered but the response so far has been poor. Govt feels that once the trades feels the pinch of being penalises, there will be a change.
