The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notice to the Puducherry government in a case against sinking borewells to augment the supply of drinking water in urban areas.
The Union Territory of Puducherry (UT) is in the preliminary stages of implementing a comprehensive drinking water supply project to tackle the water crisis. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, in the Assembly on March 24, said the government planned to sink deep borewells in rural areas to bring water through pipelines to urban localities at a cost of nearly ₹500 crore.
As per a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India submitted to the Assembly, the quality of the water supplied was poor. It is in this backdrop that residents of Puducherry, Villupuram, and Cuddalore have filed a case in the NGT against the sinking of bore wells in the villages of Karayamputhur, Panaiyadikuppam, Munmedu, and Kaduvanur by the government of Puducherry.
The applicants said no detailed study was conducted before the U.T. took up this project. “The bore wells that may be sunk within the territory of Puducherry will affect the neighbouring villages of the districts of Cuddalore and Villupuram, which come within the territory of the State of Tamil Nadu,” they submitted before the tribunal.
Further, the tribunal was told that the sanction was given only for sinking two borewells, whereas, as per the modified Detailed Project Report (DPR) for augmentation of water supply source and rehabilitation system in the urban area of Puducherry Phase-I, the installation of 84 numbers of the tube wells is sanctioned at a cost of ₹28.83 crore.
It was also said that representations were made to the Water Resources Department (WRD) of Tamil Nadu, but there was no response. Noting that the matter concerns drinking water supply, the tribunal has issued notices to the Puducherry Ground Water Authority, the Tamil Nadu WRD, and the Puducherry government. The next hearing has been posted for July 24. “Let the response be filed by all the respondents to the allegations made in the application before the date of the next hearing,” the tribunal ordered.
