Borewell registration norm watered down after all

The BWSSB had warned that owners of properties which have borewells would face action, if the borewells were not registered by March 31. The Water Board had said defaulters would have to pay fine or even undergo prosecution. It was also planning squads to crack down on unregistered borewells.

But a BWSSB official has said that there are no specific rules to mitigate illegal borewells or penalise people who have not registered theirs. The fate of the borewell registration deadline may not be too different from that for installing rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems at homes.

B M Manjunath, Assistant Executive Engineer, BWSSB, told Deccan Herald: “We have sent out a request for all borewells in the City to be registered. But, if we do find out that there are unauthorised borewells, there are no rules to penalise the owners.”

However, engineer-in-chief of BWSSB D V Raju said, “It is very difficult to handle this problem. We cannot go door to door to check, as it is very impractical. Unless someone complains, we are unable to find out. But, if a complaint is filed, we can seize their equipment or even disconnect power lines. This is rather rare.”

Over the years, Bangalore’s dependence on groundwater has only increased. A report by the Central Groundwater Board (2008) on Bangalore’s water table has estimated that 750 million litres per day (MLD) of groundwater is being extracted every day, which is 3.7 times its recharge capacity.

The BWSSB places the present number of borewells in the City at 3.12 lakh, but a study done by the Institute of Economic and Social Change, back in 2008, showed the number to be at least 4.28 lakh.

With groundwater level depleting at an alarming rate, rainwater harvesting (RWH) was made mandatory by BWSSB in July 2011. Yet, many houses in the City which have got borewells sunk do not have an RWH system in place.

Says Manjunath: “It is not mandatory for all houses having borewells to have RWH systems. We have made it mandatory only for newly constructed buildings and 60X40 sites. We are not too strict with the 30X40 sites.”  

Of the 18 lakh properties in the City, over 55,000 sites were identified for the mandatory RWH norm. Of these, 45,000 successfully installed RWH systems. Soon, sites measuring 60X40 and above may be penalised with disconnection of water supply, if RWH system is not installed, he added.