GHAZIABAD: The National Green Tribunal on Thursday issued a notice to the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) over a large number of industries running without consent to extract groundwater in Greater Noida and Noida. The tribunal directed the CGWA to submit an action taken report in this regard within 10 days. The case will come up for hearing on February 27.The tribunal was hearing a case filed by Delhi-based environmentalist Shailesh Singh regarding depleting condition of groundwater due to its illegal extraction by various industries in the two areas.Singh said, “The present scenario concerning ground water is alarming since a number of industries are running without the CGWA consent. An RTI reply received in January 2018 has given a list of 88 felonious industries in Greater Noida that are doing continuous extraction of ground water without consent. Such acts are being conducted in overexploited areas like Bisrakh, Dadri, Dankaur and Jevar. Although the RTI has mentioned only 88 industries, I believe that there are over 100 such industries. In the plea, I have requested the tribunal to direct the CGWA to submit a complete list of industries not having requisite permission.”Alleging a collusion between CGWA officials and defaulting industries owners, Singh said that Instead of taking action, the authority is shielding them and quite often conceal the true picture. The petitioner also mentioned several orders passed by the NGT in the past in his petition where the tribunal made it compulsory for a person/industry to obtain permission for extracting ground water from the CGWA.“Despite several orders by the NGT to the CGWA, several industries are running without obtaining consent from the authority to extract groundwater. In an order in 2015, the NGT had made it mandatory to obtain permission for extracting groundwater from the CGWA. It had also directed the UPPCB to ensure that meters are fixed in all these units to record groundwater consumption. However, even after three years, industries are not only violating the norms laid by the CGWA and UPPCB, but also acting contrary to orders passed by the NGT,” Singh said.The applicant informed that a public notice was issued by the CGWA to industries in January 2017 following an order by the NGT in January 2016.The petitioner also drew the attention of the NGT to its another other order issued in April 2017, in which the tribunal had severely reprimanded the CGWA for giving a “go by” to its mandate.

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