BHUBANESWAR: To address the issue of depleting groundwater level in the capital region, the demand for setting up a special groundwater cell by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to regulate extraction and use of water has gained pace.
Corporator of ward no 51 Binayinee Jena, who moved the proposal during a recent meeting of the BMC, said the corporation has been asked to establish a borewell/groundwater cell and come up with appropriate regulatory norms to check groundwater misuse. Jena said the Odisha Municipal Corporation (OMC) Act 2003 makes it mandatory to obtain permission from the municipal corporation to dig borewell for both commercial and residential uses. However, the enforcement in this regard has not been adequate, she said.
She further alleged that many people including those living in slums, where round-the-clock water supply has been ensured, are misutilising it in absence of any regulation.
“As per government guidelines, the daily water consumption for a person is maximum 60 gallons (227 litre) and we need to restrict our use to this limit to prevent water scarcity in the future,” Jena said adding, there should be regulation on granting permission for tube wells in the city and encouragement for more rainwater harvesting structures.
As per the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, the consumption requirement that could be met through groundwater in the city has already plunged from 112 MLD to 206 MLD in a decade as of 2020. The over-dependency has also affected the level of groundwater in different parts of the city with water level in Saheed Nagar plunging from 5.3 metre in 2006 to 4.4 metre in 2015.