MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has granted interim stay restraining private companies in Vedasandur in Dindigul district from extracting groundwater for commercial use. A Division Bench of Justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy issued the order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by N Ramachandran of Vedasandur.
The petitioner stated that he had complained to officials about exploitation of ground water for commercial purpose. However no action was taken before he lodged a representation to the CM’s grievance cell.
Though officials assured to take action, no action has been taken so far. Further, he stated that five RO water bottling plants were extracting ground water without obtaining certification/licence. This may lead to significant environmental issue and scarcity of water. “No government authorities have taken effective action despite several representations and communications,” he stated and requested the court to direct authorities to initiate criminal and civil proceedings against the companies and collect fine/compensation from them.