Water crisis: Legal action against drilling unauthorised borewells in Bengaluru: BWSSB
BENGALURU: Amid the water crisis, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has said it will take legal action against those drilling unauthorised borewells within the city limits.
Starting March 15, people can seek permission for drilling borewells by submitting their applications on the official website of the Board and approval will be granted based on site inspection by the concerned officials, it said.
BWSSB said in an order that before drilling borewells for personal or other use in Bengaluru city, it is mandatory to obtain permission from concerned authorities as per section 11 of Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011.
It cited lack of adequate rainwater as a reason for decline in ground water level and said many borewells in the city have dried up.
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Officials also suspect that ground water level in the city is also decreasing due to "unscientific drilling" of borewells.
According to the order, borewells should be drilled only in those places where permission has been granted by the concerned authorities and if they are done in unauthorised places, legal action will be taken as per rules.
The order comes just days after BWSSB banned usage of potable water for non-essential purposes -- cleaning vehicles, construction of buildings and roads, for entertainment purposes or decorations like fountains -- in Bengaluru and stated that violators would be fined Rs 5,000.
Malls and cinema halls are permitted to use potable water only for drinking, according to the March seven order.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
