Confronted with a precarious decline in groundwater levels, District Collector and Magistrate Kaushalendra Vikram Singh on Friday declared the entire Bhopal district a ‘water scarcity-affected area’. Invoking the Madhya Pradesh Drinking Water Preservation Act, 1986, the administration has imposed an immediate and total ban on the drilling of new private tubewells across the district to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the upcoming summer. The administrative intervention follows a grim assessment by the Executive Engineer of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department. According to the department, the unchecked and excessive extraction of groundwater for agricultural and commercial purposes has led to a vertical drop in the water table. Officials expressed grave concerns that if the current rate of exploitation continues, existing public drinking water sources and community tube-wells could run completely dry during the peak heat season.

 

The order places a specific focus on the movement of heavy machinery, effectively putting the city under a “boring-rig siege.” Under the new guidelines, no boring or drilling machine is permitted to enter the revenue limits of Bhopal without explicit, written permission from the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). This move is designed to choke the supply of illegal drilling services at the source. “Any drilling rig found entering the city limits illegally or attempting to excavate at prohibited sites will be seized immediately,” the Collector stated. Furthermore, police and revenue officials have been directed to register First Information Reports (FIRs) against both the operators and owners of such unauthorised machinery.

 

Only rigs transiting via public highways to other districts are exempt from this restriction. The administration has armed itself with significant legal powers to ensure compliance. Violators of this ban face stiff legal consequences under the 1986 Act, including a prison term of up to two years, a fine of Rs 2,000, or both. The Collector has authorised SDMs to grant drilling permissions only in unavoidable and extreme circumstances following a rigorous field investigation and verification process. While Government-sanctioned water schemes under the Public Health Engineering Department remain exempt from the ban, the administration has warned that it may exercise powers under Section 4 of the Act to temporarily acquire existing private water sources. This would allow the state to requisition private tube-wells for public distribution should the shortage reach critical levels.