The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to report details of the measures taken to tackle the acute drinking water shortage being experienced in the state as it has been declared drought hit.
A Division Bench comprising Justice K M Joseph and Justice K Ramakrishnan also asked the government as to “what precautionary methods were adopted by it to tackle the drought”.
The court issued the directive while considering a petition filed by Hanan Abdul Rahim of Kollam seeking police protection for drilling tubewell in his house compound.Counsel for the petitioner K R Sunil submitted that Hanan had obtained permission from the Groundwater Department and the panchayat.
However some people were obstructing the working of the tubewell. Hence, he sought police protection. The court also observed that disputes regarding installation of tubewell were on the rise.