The fast depleting groundwater levels in Noida and Ghaziabad revealed by RTI
26 Jan, 2014The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that the Gautam Budhha Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad districts in UP-NCR are witnessing rapidly depleting groundwater resources.
The reply to the application, provided by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), states that in Noida, water table has reached semi-critical level in two out of four administrative blocks and in one block the water table has been categorized as ‘over-exploited’. Water table remains at safe level only in Dadri block.
In Ghaziabad, four out of eight administrative blocks have safe level of groundwater. Out of remaining four blocks, two have been categorized as semi-critical with respect to groundwater, one block (Bhojpur) has reached the critical level while one block has been marked as over-exploited.
More so, the reply also tells that the CGWA has not issued a single NOC in Noida and Ghaziabad for packaged water plants. Replying to a separate query, the CGWA said that area under Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation has been categorized as ‘critical area’ due to contamination of groundwater by toxic elements in industrial wastes.