The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday rapped the Delhi government and the Delhi Jal Board for permitting operation of industries which carry out illegal extraction of groundwater, leading to depletion of water levels.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar said, “You have developed the industrial area but not provided water. That is why they are extracting water. You were supposed to provide a plan and three years have passed since... How can you set up industries if you don’t have basic facilities like water?”
Further, the government came under fire for ‘abusing an interim order’. “You are trying to take advantage of an interim order passed by the Tribunal to perpetuate illegality,” said the Bench.
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The NGT had in 2014 passed an interim order which stated that “if the industry is a water packaging industry and is extracting water for that purpose, that unit shall pay a sum of ₹50,000 per year per borewell for utilisation”. The NGT has asked the government to appear before the Bench on Thursday after taking appropriate action against these industries.