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No end to illegal borewell drilling in Sec’bad Cantonment
What has been happening in the Secunderabad Cantonment jurisdiction makes no sense, at least as regards the borewells that are coming up at regular intervals. And the villains-of-the-piece are not officials from the Board but the residents, whose fancy for saving on money has given rise to the prevalence of rampant digging of borewell, illegally.
In spite of the borewell drilling permission charges being reduced by over Rs 10,000, people are still drilling borewells without paying anything to us. As per the new ruling, a legal digging permission comes for Rs 1000 for colonies and Rs 500 for slums -P Savan Kumar, Assistant Engineer, Electrical & Maintenance
What has been happening in the Secunderabad Cantonment jurisdiction makes no sense, at least as regards the borewells that are coming up at regular intervals. And the villains-of-the-piece are not officials from the Board but the residents, whose fancy for saving on money has given rise to the prevalence of rampant digging of borewell, illegally.
In order to check the ingenuity behind hoodwinking the authorities and with the intention of making life simple for the folks, in a landmark decision taken on April 9, the Board lowered the cost of borewell digging permission rather liberally-it was brought down from Rs 12,000 to Rs 1000 for colonies and residential localities while it was Rs 500 for slums! Alas, the results have not been as good as intended.
The problems remain as they were for the Board, which is still busy stopping illegal borewell drilling every other day. According to P Savan Kumar, Assistant Engineer, Electrical & Maintenance wing of the Board, “People take advantage of the Sunday holiday and start drilling work on Saturday nights. The SCB swings into action as soon as it gets wind of such offences. The ground staff is constantly on vigil.”
The penalties too have been drastically reduced after the board meeting. Earlier, the SCB collected penalties up to Rs 20,000 but now charges just about Rs 1000–Rs 2000 based on the nature of the case and extent of the offence. A senior official on condition of anonymity said that now it has taken political overtones with ward members, owing allegiance to one party or the other, taking a soft stance when an illegal connection comes to light.
On an average, the SCB receives 15 complaints from the eight wards pertaining to dysfunctional borewells and issues related to low pressure of water and repairs. There are more than 600 public borewells in the eight wards. Indiscriminate use of the borewells has also resulted in the depletion of groundwater to alarming levels. An SCB official said that residents use borewells indiscriminately all through the day whereas judicious use can help in the optimal upkeep of borewells.
By:T P Venu
