After extending the deadline for borewell registration drive three times, the Bangalore Water and Sewerage Supply Board had finally closed registrations on July 31. But going by the compiled data, the board has not been successful in getting every borewell owner to register.
As per the compiled data, the total number of registered borewells is 49,604 whereas the total number of estimated existing borewells is around 1.75 lakhs. And according to certain estimates, there are three lakh borewells in the city!
T Venkataraju, engineer in chef, BWSSB, however claims that more than 50 per cent of owners of existing borewells have registered. "According to the data currently available, around 50,000 borewells have been registered. However, much of the data is yet to be compiled," he said.
The initial deadline for registration was March 31, but as with every other deadline, this too faced many delays. Only 1,000 people had registered their borewells then. As per the Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011, the registration of borewells with the BWSSB is mandatory.
The drive, which was initially undertaken to obtain a record of the number of borewells in Bangalore in view of the depleting groundwater table, is apparently a part of a long-term plan to move towards creating sustainable water resources.
However, when asked about the next step, Venkataraju told City Express that they were yet to hold a meeting to decide upon it. As for the penalty for those who have not registered, he said, "If they have not registered, it is equivalent to saying that they do not require to use it. So the board can refuse them permission to continue drawing water from it."
Further, under section 32 (2) of the act, unregistered borewell users are also liable to pay a fine up to ` 5,000, serve a jail term that can be extended up to six months, or both.
However, the borewells which have dried up need not have to be registered with the BWSSB.
But, the owners should get their dry borewells certified as dry ones and put a cap on them.
