PANAJI: The Water Resources Department is in the process of fine-tuning its regulatory mechanism in a bid to tap groundwater resources to generate revenue and give due emphasis to conservation.
The department is trying to put a system in place for testing the quality, regulating the amount of water being utilized and streamlining the revenue inflow.
Over the last five years, the WRD has earned around Rs 1.35 crores in revenues from around 100 commercial consumers of groundwater in Tiswadi taluka alone.
The Goa government had enacted the Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, in 2002 following indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater, especially by industrial units who drilled bore wells at will without any regulation. Implementation of the law however began more than a year later after the rules under the law were framed.
Interestingly, the WRD's Groundwater Officer (North Goa) has again on November 30 issued a fresh public notice to owners of groundwater structures such as open wells, bore wells and sunk wells besides suppliers of water to register themselves with respective WRD divisions within a period of 30 days. The last time such a notice was issued was in 2012.
“People should register with WRD. With this, we will be able to monitor the quantum of groundwater being utilised and it will also generate revenue for the government simultaneously,” said a WRD official. The WRD is also in the process of setting up a full-fledged water testing lab, the official added.
Many have already registered their groundwater structures which they are using to draw water and supply it for commercial purposes.
As per the law, every groundwater body and transporting vehicle should be registered with the WRD department.
Another provision in the law fixes penalty for violators with a fine of Rs 1000. The WRD is also empowered to direct the electricity department to disconnect the power connection for the pump-house.
The government collects registration fees for the wells used for commercial purpose at the rate of Rs 500, and for domestic purpose the fee collected is Rs 50 for 5 years.
For commercial tankers, the registration fee is 3000 to Rs 5000 annually as per its capacity. The WRD also collects Rs 6 per cubic metre for the seven months between November and May and Rs 2 per cubic meter for the other months for ground water drawn through pipes for commercial, industrial and mining purposes.
However, many commercial establishments are defaulting on payments and the department has identified 62 defaulters in Bardez and Tiswadi talukas and sent them notices.
Many of them have stated that the water meter is not working and the department has therefore decided to recover a compounded average amount from these defaulters.
In Tiswadi and Bardez area, around 250 wells have been registered with the WRD. The law also requires tankers to register with the WRD and display the certificate on the vehicle. The registration as well as payment of fees is now possible online.
