Groundwater extraction will invite a fee-Industries to pay conservation charge; agriculture and defence units exempted
- In a bid to promote conservation of groundwater, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has notified a water conservation fee (WCF) that industries will need to pay on groundwater extraction starting from June 2019.
- As per the notification, industries extracting groundwater, including mining-dewatering units and those that use groundwater for packaged drinking water, will need to apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the government.
- Individual households that draw groundwater using a delivery pipe of a greater than 1” diameter, too, will need to pay a WCF.
Exemption:
- However, the agriculture sector — the largest consumer of groundwater in the country — will be exempt from the fees.
- Defence establishments and users who don’t use electricity to extract water have also been granted exemption.
Online NOC process
- The entire process of grant of NOC will be done online through a web-based application system of CGWA.
- The rates, according to a notification by the CGWA, would be levied depending on the location of the groundwater extraction point and the amount of water being extracted.
- The government has a list of groundwater blocks, called Assessment blocks.
- These are classified as ‘safe,’ ‘semi-critical,’ ‘critical’ and ‘overexploited’ depending on the groundwater draft.
- India is the largest user of groundwater in the world, and accounts for about 25% of the global water extraction.
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