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Industries to pay for using groundwater
Why is it in news?
- 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.
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- What notification says?
- Industries extracting groundwater including mining-dewatering units and those that use groundwater for packaged drinking water would also 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, would need to pay a WCF.
- The agriculture sector — the largest consumer of groundwater in the country — will be exempt from the fees.
- The guidelines would come into force with effect from June 2019 and would apply across the country.
- Online NOC process- The entire process of grant of NOC will be done online through a web based application system of CGA.
- Rates 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 ‘over-exploited’ depending on the groundwater draft.
- Defence establishments and users who don’t use electricity to extract water have also been granted exemption from the requirement of obtaining NOCs and having to pay the WCF.
Source
The Hindu