Civic body's permission now mandatory to dig borewell in Bhubaneswar

New Indian Express

4 days ago

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made prior permission for digging borewells in the state capital mandatory for both commercial and residential users.
A decision to this effect has been taken in the BMC corporation meeting on Friday. Mayor Sulochana Das told this paper that the decision has been taken to regulate extraction of groundwater and prevent its misuse in view of the depleting sub-surface water level in the capital region.
Das said the planning wing of the BMC will prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for groundwater use and borewell digging under BMC jurisdiction.
The Odisha Municipal Corporation (OMC) Act 2003 stipulates permission from the municipal corporation to dig borewell for both commercial and residential uses. However, sources said, poor enforcement of the norm has resulted in unregulated use of groundwater in the city in last two decades, primarily due to the growing urbanisation of the city and its periphery.
As per the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, the consumption requirement met through groundwater in the capital city has already plunged from 112 MLD to 206 MLD in a decade. The over-dependency has also affected the level of groundwater in different parts of the city with water level in Saheed Nagar plunging from 5.3 metre in 2006 to 4.4 metre in 2015.
Corporator of ward no 51 Binayinee Jena, who had raised the matter with the civic body seeking formation of a special groundwater cell and appropriate regulatory norms to check misuse, said the corporation meeting also deliberated on other possible measures including use of metres in borewells to check the water uses.
She has been advocating that considering the government guidelines a person should be restricted to the daily water consumption limit of a maximum 60 gallons (227 litre) to prevent water scarcity in city in the future.