The board has already slapped fines of up to Rs 50,000 on the owners of three apartment houses and two mineral water companies for extracting ground water without having obtained licenses.[break]
"We have mobilized a flying squad," says Hari Prasad Dhakal, executive director of the KVWSMB, adding, "The squad will fine the unauthorized users of ground water and force them to get licenses."
The board, entrusted with the responsibility of managing all sources of water inside the Kathmandu valley, had issued a public notice early this year, urging all five-star hotels, mega hospitals, apartments, housing colonies, business complexes and industries to get license for extracting ground water for commercial purposes.
The deadline for obtaining license for using ground water has already expired, prompting the board to launch the crackdown. The board says it might still show leniency to those who will get license by the end of this year.
"Those who will apply to obtain license by the end of December will get some concessions on fine-money," says Dhakal. But the board is all set to tighten the noose on unauthorized users of ground water from early next year.
Almost one year after the KVWSMB made license mandatory for extracting ground water, hundreds of commercial firms and institutions are drawing fossil water, which, hydro-geologists say, takes years to percolate into the inner part of the earth, without permission. They are unregulated and pay nothing for using the water.
So far the board has issued licenses for only 200 deep-boring pumps--including 80 pumps owned by Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL)--a number far short of the estimated deep-boring pumps in operation across the valley. About 700 deep-boring pumps are believed to be in operation throughout the valley.
"None of star hotels and mega hospitals has obtained license," says Dhakal. "Only a couple of star hotels like Everest and Hyatt Regency have just applied for licenses."
Approximately, 70 million liters of ground water is extracted every day inside the valley, states a survey report by the KVWSMB.
Excessive exploitation of ground water, hydro-geologists warn, will lead to land subsidence. The KVWSMB report states that the level of ground water in the valley has already gone done by 30 meters.
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