Ban on two giant borewells upheld

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has upheld an order of the Krishnagiri Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) banning two giant borewells drawing water for commercial purposes, in Hosur. “Certainly, using of water for commercial purposes cannot be allowed even if the land belongs to the owner,” Justice K Chandru said while dismissing a writ petition from R Kumaravel Gounder of Hosur.Gounder had dug up two borewells of 600 ft and 900 ft depth and was drawing about 70,000 litres of water using 10 HP motors per day for the past five years.Besides causing nuisance, the borewells dried up other wells in the area, said the local residents. In the absence of a specific provision to curtail indiscriminate drawing of ground water, the Krishnagiri RDO invoked Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He issued a show-cause notice to Gounder. A sub-collector, who made a spot inquiry, too upheld the order of the RDO. Gounder was then asked to remove all the accessories from his plot and not to draw the water.Aggrieved, Gounder approached the High Court contending that the complaints were given due to personal animosity.Justice Chandru said he was not inclined to interfere with the ban order. Referring to the Supreme Court judgments, the judge said it expected the civic bodies to attend to such complaints.