On 27 June, Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) listed 2,069 projects/units that had failed to renew the No Objection Certificates issued by the authority for groundwater extraction.
However, the CGWA on Thursday granted relief to them by extending the last date for applying for NOCs from 30 June to 30 September.
The 2,069 projects include projects and units of big corporations like Tata Steel, Adani Wilmar and Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy.
“Failure to do so (application for NOC) shall be treated as illegal abstraction and strict penal action shall be initiated against offenders as per prescribed rules and Environment (Protection) Act,” said a statement issued by the CGWA member secretary.
The NOCs are issued for a period of 2 to 5 years, depending on the users and the category of an area in which they are located (over-exploited, critical, semi-critical and safe).
Among the 2,069 projects listed, the NOC for Adani Wilmar Limited (2,673 cubic metres per day) was due for renewal in April 2021. The NOC for Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy Unit-II, based in Haridwar, for extraction of 179 cubic metres per day, expired on 23 December 2017.
NOC for maximum groundwater extraction – 5,77,550 cubic metres per day – was issued to Tubed Coal Mine project in the Latehar district of Jharkhand. It was due for renewal on 13 August 2021.
The NOC for Tata Steel Ltd’s Open Cast Coal Mine in West Bokaro (20,094 cubic meters per day) expired in December 2021.
The member secretary quoted Section 11 (vii) of the guidelines which state that “if the proponent fails to apply for renewal within three months from the date of expiry of NOC, the proponent shall be liable to pay environmental compensation for the period starting from the date of expiry of NOC to NOC is renewed by the competent authority.”
The CGWA could take action against defaulting units, including sealing of borewell, suspension/closure of the unit and levying of environmental compensation.
According to the “Guidelines to regulate and control groundwater extraction in India”, issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti Ministry on September 24, 2020, barring five exempted categories – individual domestic consumers in rural and urban areas for drinking water and domestic use; rural drinking water supply schemes; Armed Forces establishments and Central Armed Police Forces establishments in rural and urban areas; agricultural activities; and Micro and Small Enterprises drawing less than 10 cubic metres per day – all other users are required to get NOCs from the CGWA for extraction of groundwater.
The CGWA regulates the withdrawal of groundwater across the following states and Union Territories – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
While CGWA officials declined to comment, an official said some industries responded after the list went public. However, there was no response from 1,814 industries till July 13, the official said.
