JOIN US“Rules under the Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011, will be approved soon and an authority to regulate exploitation of ground water will be set up. The authority, in charge of granting permission to sink borewells, will also advise farmers on the kind of crops they can grow on their land,” Sreenivasachary said here on Monday.
He was speaking at a function to distribute prizes to winners of a state-level drawing competition on the theme, “Conserve water for future” organised by the Central Ground Water Board.
He said the Act secured the approval after 17 years of draft and it will take some time for the department to implement the rules. Thirty-three taluks in the State have been identified as overexploited zones of ground water, he added.
Prize winners
Shreeraksha, a sixth standard student from Canara English Higher Primary School, Mangalore, bagged the first place in the painting competition. Her canvas depicted rainwater harvesting.
“Water is life and it is very important to conserve our water bodies. Everybody should invest in rainwater harvesting in their houses and also recycle domestic and industrial waste in every city, ” she said.
The second prize winner Arya A I from St Joseph Central School, Mysore, had drawn six different ways of water conservation methods. Pradheesh K, third prize winner from G M Vidyaniketan Public School, Brahmavar, Udupi, expressed his concern over rampant felling of trees in his drawing. There were 10 others who received consolation prizes at the competition.
The nationwide programme was organised by the Union Ministry of Water Resources for fourth, fifth and sixth standard students with the objective of spreading awareness on the need for water conservation.
Fifty students were shortlisted among the 1,24,960 paintings received from all over the State. The first three prize winners will represent the State at the national-level competition to be held in New Delhi in January 2012.