PUNE: The Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) is likely to implement the draft Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Rules, 2018, once the model code of conduct is lifted.Sources in the GSDA told TOI that the implementation of the rules, which were released in September 2018, has gained urgency considering the recurrent drought-like conditions in the state. The draft rules were introduced as part of the Groundwater Act. Sources said the rules may even be implemented by June this year.Once implemented, Maharashtra may be the first state to have a comprehensive groundwater preservation and management mechanism. The rules not only mandate the registration of existing wells but also make it compulsory to acquire permissions from the authorities before sinking new wells. Applicants will only be allowed to sink a new well provided a groundwater recharge structure is built alongside. Submissions of cropping patterns to the state authorities by the village officials and permissions for the cultivation of water-intensive crops in notified areas will also be required.“We had sought suggestions and received about 3,000 of them. These rules were drafted on the basis of the groundwater guidelines introduced by the Union government. All the rules have been presented to the chief secretary, who has given us guidelines on how they can be further refined. Suggestions from people have also been considered,” he said.A major rule in the draft is the registration of wells. “The state groundwater authority will publish a notice mentioning the calendar and procedure for registration of all the wells in the state, using print and electronic media, directing all the owners of wells in the notified and non-notified areas to register their wells. Every owner, within 180 days from the date of the publication of the notice, will have to apply to the district authority or the designated officer for registration of the well,” a GSDA official added. Another mandatory provision says the state government, in consultation with the groundwater authority, will levy and collect an annual cess through the revenue department on the extraction of groundwater for agricultural or industrial use from the existing deep wells in non-notified areas. The cess will be two times the cess levied by Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority.

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