Thoothukudi Collector asked to curb illegal sale of ground water

In the petition submitted by residents of Kootudankadu, they said “the ground water level in the wells had gone too low and most of the water bodies had dried up. The borewell too had gone dry and in most of the places the water is unusable.” 

The petition added that under the prevailing circumstances, private land owners had dug deep bore wells and were sucking up water in large quantities. “The water which is sucked out is being sold to large corporate companies. Such acts lead to drastic decrease in the ground water table. 

Hence, the district administration should intervene to prevent exploitation of water by such private players,” they added.  Similarly, public and social activists from Thoothukudi had demanded the district administration to take immediate steps to stop drawing ground water. 

Mariappan, one of the petitioners, said, “several private land owners have created bore-wells in the Corporation area itself and are pumping out huge quantities of water.” He added, “Private land owners close to VVD signal and Rajaji park are indulged in this illegal activity and are selling the water to ice factories and other private companies.” He requested the district administration to seal such illegal bore-wells and save ground water for drinking purposes.

Saying that crores of amount of water tax is pending from large companies in Thoothukudi district, the MDMK district secretary R S Ramesh asked the officials to collect the same immediately.  Submitting a petition to the Collector, Ramesh said that for the past several years these corporate firms has benefitted by the water supply from Tamirabarani River at a low cost. Even the meagre water taxes are not paid by the companies for several years, he claimed. The MDMK man urged the district administration to collect these pending water taxes and invest the same in fining alternative water resources for the supply of drinking water to the Thoothukudi residents. However, Thoothukudi Collector M Ravi Kumar said he was not aware of any pending taxes. He sought the reply of Executive Engineer of the TWAD on this issue. “Only after his reply I will come to know the exact pending amount. If any, action will be taken,” the Collector assured.