post news network
Bhubaneswar, August 21: The state government will serve notices on industries asking them not to utilise groundwater. Instead they will be asked to apply for surface water connections.
“The existing industries (in the state) using groundwater but having scope to draw surface water from the nearby sources will be issued notices to apply for surface water in order to discontinue the existing ground water withdrawal,” said a senior water resources department official Sunday.
He said the Office of the Engineer-in-Chief Water Resources has sent instruction to all executive engineers of various irrigation/canal/dam divisions, who are also the convener of district level evaluation committee (DLEC) in their concerned districts, to take required steps in this regard.
The move comes in the backdrop of rapid depletion of groundwater level, especially in industrial belts.
But the government has also decided to allow industries to utilise small quantity of groundwater for production purposes without affecting the groundwater table. The permission, however, will be given with due approval and execution of agreement, department officials said.
They added that the DLEC have to also ensure that no surface water source is available near the industry.
