Groundwater

Charges for extracting ground water in Punjab will be levied on all non-exempted users, including the industry, starting next month, with the state water regulation and development authority notifying directions in this regard. The new directions, however, do not cover groundwater use for agriculture, drinking and domestic purposes, said an official statement here, adding that the Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority (PWRDA) has notified Punjab Groundwater Extraction and Conservation Directions, 2023. The directions also exempt government water supply schemes, military and central paramilitary establishments, urban local bodies, panchayati raj institutions, cantonment boards, improvement trusts, area development authorities and places of worship, it further said. The exemption has also been provided to all users who extract groundwater less than 300 cubic metres per month, it added. All non-exempted users shall have to submit an application to the authority for seeking

High arsenic concentration has been found in groundwater in 18 districts of Bihar, as well as its correlation with incidences of gallbladder cancer at these places, according to a new study, a senior official said. People in these districts are drinking water with arsenic concentration greater than the World Health Organisation's permissible limit of 10 microgram per litre, he said. The study by experts has found that out of the 38 districts, 18 have high arsenic contamination in groundwater. The worst-affected districts are Buxar, Bhojpur and Bhagalpur. The highest arsenic contamination (1906 ug/L) in groundwater is in Buxar, Ashok Kumar Ghosh, Chairman of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB), told PTI. Now, arsenic as a possible risk factor for gallbladder cancer has been found in the study. Public health intervention in the form of removing arsenic from drinking water is the need of the hour in the endemic regions of Bihar and Assam. Tackling arsenic pollution may help

The National Green Tribunal has directed the authorities to seal all illegal commercial borewells in Noida. The tribunal has also directed the builders or project proponents to pay interim compensation -- at least 0.5% of their project cost. The green panel was hearing a petition regarding the illegal extraction of groundwater by 40 builders in Noida. The petition alleged that the authorities concerned had failed to prevent illegal commercial extraction of groundwater, resulting in its depletion. A bench of Chairperson AK Goel said the unregulated extraction of groundwater was detrimental to the environment and violated directions of the Supreme Court. The bench, also comprising Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said regulation on groundwater extraction was necessary for conservation and to ensure adequate replenishment. The bench noted that according to the report of a joint committee comprising the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Uttar Pradesh

In 2022, around 87 per cent of the total annual ground water extracted that is around 208.49 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) was for irrigation which in 2020 was around 89 per cent

The high concentration of uranium in groundwater in certain districts in Bihar has left the authorities worried

Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala account for 49 per cent of the overall extraction of groundwater in the entire country

Danger of land subsidence is increasing in NCR

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Tuesday pointed out that in the period between 2004 and 2017, the stage of extraction of ground water increased from 58 per cent to 63 per cent

The second in a series of weekly articles on the new National Water Policy

Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday CSIR is using the latest technology to map sources of groundwater in arid regions that will help use it for drinking

"Apart from writing a letter, there has to be specific time-bound action plans and monitoring which should include coercive measures for enforcement," the bench said

Scientists have found an increased probability of high arsenic levels in well waters in parts of India where previously arsenic hazard was generally not considered to be a major concern

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

Rules must contain wasteful use in agriculture

There is no absolute right to extract groundwater for commercial purpose and doing so without authorisation is a criminal offence, the NGT said

In a Q&A, Jal Shakti Minister says he is confident the pandemic will not delay the targets under the Har Ghar Jal initiative or lead to any fund crunch

Urging farmers to switch over to crops that use less water, he exhorted people not to waste the precious natural resource in daily household needs

Arya filed a case against against the Noida Authority for causing the denudation and environmental distress

The government has also started the work of mapping aquifer and by next March

According to a NITI report, 21 cities in India will run out of groundwater which will affect 100 million people. Veena Srinivasan, a water expert, tells us what is India's problem with regard to water