Maharashtra water authority has no info on wells: RTI applicant

A Right to Information (RTI) application based out of Kalabadevi was stunned to know that the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) has no information about the wells in the state. 

Sureshkumar Dhoka, the applicant, had sought details of the total number of wells in the state along with the details of those that are legal and illegal. The MWRRA, however, surprisingly stated that no such records are available with it and transferred the same to another body.

The applicant found the reply surprising as MWRRA, in July last year, had given six months’ time to the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) to conduct a study of the quantity and quality of water in wells in the state. The report was to be submitted to the MWRRA. There were no details of the report. The application was later transferred to the GSDA. 

Dhoka has been relentlessly pursuing the issue of wells and its illegal commercial usage ever since his son was hospitalised due the unhygenic conditions of a well created by its usage by tankers in the building where he works. He has filed various RTI applications to know the status of other wells in the state.