A serious problem of depleting ground water levels in Punjab could force the Supreme Court to turn the tap off on fresh tubewell connections in the State. Since electricity is free in the State for farmers, backwards and below poverty line families, getting a tubewell connection is on the rise even as the crisis deepens.
Issuing notice on a PIl filed by a Punjab-based NGO Safal Bharat Guru that presented this problem, a bench of Justices Madan B lokur and PC Pant sought the response of Punjab Government and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) to the petition.
Earlier, the NGO had approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which failed to put a freeze on tubewell connections and allowed all fresh connections to be proceeded with by the concerned State authorities. Arguing for the NGO, senior advocate Narender Hooda pointed out that the Tribunal ignored the CGWB report which said that ground water level in the State has shown a decline of 73 per cent over the last decade.
The State is facing a grave crisis as among the 138 blocks assessed by the central water authority, over 110 blocks have been categorised as “over exploited”. This was an alarming situation since 45 blocks in the State are declared “notified areas” and further grant of tubewell connections must not fall within the “over exploited” or notified areas.