The Times of India 01.08.2012
New construction stayed till Aug 21
CHANDIGARH: Punjab and
Haryana high court on Tuesday reiterated its earlier ban on usage of
underground water for construction work and fixed August 21 as the next
date of hearing.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice
(acting) Jasbir Singh directed the Gurgaon deputy commissioner to hold a
meeting with the Central Ground Water Board to constitute a committee
for checking the illegal borewell connections used for construction work
in the city. Directions have also been issued to ensure all the
authorized borewell connections in the city are equipped with meters.
The HC further directed the state government to inform the court about
the main source of water for construction work in the city and how the
authorities concerned plan to tackle the water woes in Gurgaon. The
authorities will also have to inform the court about the total
requirement of water for the city and how much out of that is required
for construction work.
When the matter came up for hearing before the bench on Tuesday, principal secretary, department of Town and Country Planning Haryana, S S Dhillon, secretary, local bodies, Ram Niwas and other senior officers of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) were present in person before the court.
Apparently miffed with the attitude of the departments for their failure in keeping a check on misuse of groundwater in Gurgaon by builders, bench observed that the state appears to be hand in glove with them. On a query from the bench, S S Dhillon informed the court that around 628MG underground water was being used every day in Gurgaon, the bench observed that if the exploitations of underground water continue to this extent, there would not be a single drop of water in Gurgaon by 2017.
When the matter came up for hearing before the bench on Tuesday, principal secretary, department of Town and Country Planning Haryana, S S Dhillon, secretary, local bodies, Ram Niwas and other senior officers of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) were present in person before the court.
Apparently miffed with the attitude of the departments for their failure in keeping a check on misuse of groundwater in Gurgaon by builders, bench observed that the state appears to be hand in glove with them. On a query from the bench, S S Dhillon informed the court that around 628MG underground water was being used every day in Gurgaon, the bench observed that if the exploitations of underground water continue to this extent, there would not be a single drop of water in Gurgaon by 2017.
The bench also observed that the misuse of groundwater could not be checked without a strong will from the state authorities. While fixing August 21, as the next date of hearing, the bench also directed the authorities to inform the court about the total requirement of water for the city and how much out of that is required for construction work. The matter had reached before the court through a bunch of petitions filed by Qutub Enclave Residents' Welfare Association and others alleging that the builders in Gurgaon were illegally extracting underground water and using it for construction purposes, because of which the level of underground water has gone down.
In the earlier order, the court had restrained the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) from issuing new licences to developers in Gurgaon unless they give an undertaking that groundwater would not be consumed for construction work.
