Any person who wants to dig a new well requires permission from the Water Resources Department WRD under section 5 (3) of Ground Water Regulation Act 1 of 2002.
However no permission seems necessary to bury an existing well. In order to carry out construction activities, as more and more old houses give way for multi-storey buildings and housing complexes, age-old wells could be buried to make for more space.
These could also include public wells on which people used to depend for water for daily use, including drinking purposes. Many of the wells that are being destroyed could also be private wells.
If necessary permission is required from the authorities concerned to cut a tree, why shouldn’t it be made mandatory for a NOC to be obtained from the authorities in order to destroy or bury a well?
Wells are our precious possessions which have been handed over to us by our ancestors and need to be conserved for posterity. A time may come when future generations may not know what a well is.
The government needs to conduct a survey of private and public wells in the State. Burying and destroying a public well needs to be considered as an anti-social activity comparable to destruction of public property and the culprits booked as per law.
