The Delhi High Court has said that draining water from illegal borewells is nothing short of sin, those who do so should be banned.
The High Court said that if such illegal borewells were not closed, Delhi may face a situation like a situation in Johannesburg, South Africa a few years ago, where there was an outcry for water.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said on April 9, “There is a need to ban some kind of ban. The way illegal borewells are reducing the water level, it is not less than any sin. Do you know what happened in Johannesburg? A few years ago there was no water in the city.
The court questioned the municipal corporation officials how they could allow borewell for construction works.
The court was hearing the plea of lawyer Sunil Kumar Sharma, claiming that several borewells or submersible pumps were illegally planted in an under -construction building on Goenka Road in Roshanara area. The petition has demanded the removal of them.
The petitioner also told the court that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has replied in the Right to Information (RTI) application that six borewells were found in the building. Sharma said that while the SDM of Dariyaganj has replied in the RTI application that three borewells were found in the building, which have been sealed.
The court ordered the MCD, Delhi Jal Board (DJhi) and the SHO of the area to conduct a joint survey of the property.
The bench said, “In view of the continuously declining water level due to such illegal activities, we instruct a team of highly placed officers nominated by the MCD Commissioner, Delhi Jal Board CEO and the SHO of the concerned police station to survey a team of highly placed officers nominated by the SHO of the police station.”
The court said that the team should survey and file a report within 10 days. The court also directed that if an illegal borewell is found to be operational at the construction site, then the authorities should take appropriate action.
The court said that if the survey team finds out that illegal borewells were operational earlier, they should mention the number of machines in their report and when they have been on.
The bench said that based on the findings of the report, it would consider imposing environmental fines on building owners to damage the water level. The bench fixed July 30 for the next hearing of the case.
The petitioner has claimed in his petition that the owner of the building is making about 100 flats on the plot and the residents of the area are suffering a lot of damage, as well as it can harm the environment. The petitioner said that he had submitted a memorandum to the officials but no action has been taken.
