Curb groundwater exploitation, advises Parl committee chief

Visakhapatnam :Coming down heavily on corporate companies, who have been reaping profits through selling of mineral water, water resources parliamentary standing committee chairperson Hukum Singh stressed the need to check the trend and curb over-exploitation of groundwater resources.

The standing committee team led by Hukum Singh held a review meeting with several department officials over Thotapalli Barrage Project works, in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. “Through strong policy, issuing of unnecessary licenses to draw ground water should be controlled,” said Hukum Singh while interacting with the officials of water resources and groundwater departments.

The orders and suggestions issued frequently by Central government and Central Ground Water Board should be put into practice at grass root levels in Andhra Pradesh apart from implementing Walta Act for better results, he noted. “To avoid problems from the residents, the permissions to draw water in critical areas should be given only after identifying the usage of groundwater levels and creating maps based on the studies,” he added.The committee members and other officials were present.