GANGAPUR(AURANGABAD): Maharashtra is one of the first states to have regulated its groundwater resources. However, two decades after it introduced a law banning sinking of private borewells or deep-tube wells within 500 metres of a public drinking water source, brazen extraction of water continues, even in the 16 drought-hit districts of the state.
This is reflected in the fact that 195 of the state's 1,531 watersheds lie critically depleted, according to the state's Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA). Seventy-three of these are 'overexploited'.
Experts believe unchecked groundwater extraction coupled with illegal sand mining (which ruins the water table) is as much to blame for the drought situation, as failed irrigation or deficient rainfall. Sustained abuse has triggered a drinking water scarcity that is more acute than witnessed during the 1972 drought.
TOI visited scarcity-affected districts and found private borewells in farmers' backyards that were within stone's throw of public wells in blatant violation of the Maharashtra Groundwater (Regulation for Drinking Water Purposes) Act, 1993. Desperate to find even a drop of drinking water, villagers are till date boring into the ground.
Yusuf Pathan (48) of Limbe Jalgaon village, Gangapur, drilled a borewell outside his home in November, though the community well isn't too far away. "We managed to draw water till last fortnight, but the well has now run dry. We lost Rs 28,000 in the process," said Pathan, matter-of-factly
adding that nearly every home in the village had a borewell. The reality is no different in Ahmednagar's Parner or Pathardi talukas, which are also 'scarcity-affected’ after their groundwater table depleted three metres below average and received 50% deficient rainfall.
Monitoring of water-sucking borewells falls through the gaps. Admitting that they pose a challenge, Ahmednagar collector Sanjeev Kumar told TOI that he had issued orders banning private borewells from drawing water in dry talukas. He said they had also acquired 150 private wells for public use. But there is no check on whether such diktats are enforced, say locals. Both the talathi and block development officer of Pathardi, for instance, admit that they have no estimate of private borewells in factories or fields.
Action can be initiated only on complaint by the gram panchayat, but experts point out that borewells are usually the privilege of elite landlords and factory owners, whom villagers fear to take on. Not surprisingly, despite the visible presence of private wells, government data shows that merely 409 violations have been recorded under the Act till 2006, with only a single case where a well was permanently sealed in public interest. State authorities have initiated a new regulation-the Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act, 2009, which awaits the governor's assent.
"Most of the over-exploitation of groundwater resources is in drought-prone regions, where all the sugar factories are located and grapes and oranges are grown," points out Suresh Khandale, additional director of GSDA, adding that the law is not being followed.
Sachin Warghade, a water expert from TISS, says the government has failed to find any solution to the groundwater extraction, even in the wake of the drought. "The new law mandates that every borewell needs a licence. But if the existing provisions couldn't be enforced, how will the new ones be implemented?" he wonders. He also points out that landowners have already installed borewells and the new law should ensure that poorer farmers, to whom new regulations apply, would have equitable access to existing water sources in the village.
