Over 250 borewells sealed during water enforcement drive

As part of a water enforcement drive under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, more than 250 illegal borewells were sealed across the district on Friday. The six-hour drive conducted by 57 teams across 49 locations found five non-functional and 14 partially functional rainwater harvesting (RWH) units. A report on the findings will be submitted to the deputy commissioner on Saturday, officials said.

Subhi Kesarwani, coordinator of the drive, said: “It was a challenging task to map out the entire district and pinpoint illegal water activities and non-functional RWH units. However, the district administration along with teams from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, the Municipal Councils of Pataudi, Sohna, Hailey Mandi and Farrukhnagar, the District Town and Country Planning (DTCP) departments and GuruJal managed to conduct the drive effectively at a large-scale.”

The drive was flagged off by deputy commissioner Amit Khatri from Tau Devi Lal Stadium at 9am on Friday. Soon after, the 57 teams comprising of government employees, NCC/NSS volunteers, police personnel and technicians visited different parts of the city to act against misuse of water, seal illegal tubewells and borewells, and report water leakages in public buildings.

Kesarwani further said, “More than 160 borewells were sealed by MCG in wards 1-35 and 100 in rural areas. Around 76 tube wells were sealed in rural areas — 13 in Farrukhnagar, 28 in Sohna, 23 in Pataudi and 13 in Gurugram. Also, five non-functional and14 partially functional RWH were found at 14 locations. These were under the jurisdiction of DTCP.”

“Builders flouting the RWH norms have been called in at the DTCP office. They have been given three days to get all RWH units functional. Else, legal notices would be issued to them,” she said.

Maintaining that the drive will continue for the entire week, the officers said they faced resistance while sealing the tubewells and borewells. “The drive marked the beginning of yet another conscious step taken as part of Jal Shakti Abhiyaan and GuruJal Initiative.”

First Published: Jul 26, 2019 21:46 IST