Port Blair, Jan 10: Shri Vinayak Chamadia, IAS, Sub-Divisional Magistrate South Andaman, held a meeting with stakeholders of Central Ground Water Authority, Member of ACCI and Hoteliers Association in South Andaman District on 10.01.2024.

The SDM, SA emphasized that during summers, illegal ground water extraction add to the water crises:-

Sub-Divisional Magistrate South Andaman, apprised ACCI and hoteliers association regarding the requirement of obtaining permission for operation of bore wells and dug wells for Commercial/ Industrial purposes. Any organization extracting water above 10 KLD has to be obtain No Objection Certificate from CGWA and those extracting below 10KLD must obtain exempt category status from CGWA. Every Commercial and Industrial organization extracting water must install the Tamper Proof Digital Water Meter.

It was decided that all hotels and other such organizations must get the NOCs or exemption status before 31st January 2024.

It was also reiterated that all bulk water suppliers must adhere to CGWA guidelines, otherwise strict penalties would be imposed as per law.