12 yrs after bill passed, efforts on to map state groundwater

Bhubaneswar: More than a decade after Odisha passed a bill envisaging an authority to regulate groundwater, the state has begun the process to form the Odisha Ground Water Authority (OGWA) and conduct periodic census of groundwater level at regular intervals.
The authority will identify groundwater problematic areas in the state and advise the government to notify the same. In notified areas, groundwater users have to seek permission from the authority to dig new wells except for domestic and agriculture use to a certain extent. It will also register all rig owners.
The authority will be responsible for giving permission to groundwater users for various purposes such as for industry and commercial. It will also keep tabs on excessive groundwater extraction and on groundwater quality issues anywhere in the state.
Official sources said the authority will have an enforcement squad on the lines of Central Ground Water Authority for the state to monitor unauthorised and excess use of groundwater and quality issues.