Gandhinagar: In the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its report tabled in the Gujarat assembly on Wednesday, the state government has been criticized for its failure in conservation of groundwater in the state.

The report reads:

“The high level committee had recommended in 1978 the enforcement of groundwater legislation, to impose controls on excessive use of groundwater. Groundwater Division No. 2, Rajkot, under Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation Limited (GWRDC), in its Report 31 also recommended a groundwater development plan under which the user industry would pay for development of groundwater in proportion to their use, so as to generate funds for necessary groundwater recharge in the area. A CGWB report tabled in the Lok Sabha recently stated that Gujarat has used up 68% of its groundwater resources.”

“In the performance audit printed in Audit Report No. 2 (Civil) for the year ended March 21, 2010, the same was pointed out wherein it was recommended that legislation should be enacted. However, it was observed that this has not been enacted (March 2017). There was also no plan in place to control and regulate withdrawal of groundwater.”

“The Gujarat water resources department (October 2017) stated that under directions of the Supreme Court, the regulation and control of groundwater was being done by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). The Gujarat Ground Water Authority (GGWA) is acting as a recommendatory body and permissions are granted by CGWA. The draft bill for enforcement of groundwater legislation is under process of finalization.”

“The reply is not convincing, as the ministry of water resources, GoI, had circulated a model bill in 2005 to enable states to enact ground water legislation. Such an act was enacted and implemented by many states such as Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry. However, it has not been enacted in Gujarat yet.”

DeshGujarat