Mangalore: DC AB Ibrahim said  at a meeting of rig owners, executive engineers, and Tahsildars at the DC Office on Friday August 8, that he had passed an order on June 20 to seal defunct borewells in the district. He said that the rig owners should register their rigs. Unregistered borewell rigs will be confiscated and all defunct borewells should be sealed within 15 days,” he advised the rig owners and executive engineers.

“If the borewells that were dug fail, the land owners should seal the defunct borewells,” he added.

“According to the Karnataka Ground Water Regulations and Control of Development and Management Act 2011, rig owners should register their ownership and also take permission from the DC before drilling borewells. If there are any drinking water sources like wells and tanks within a radius of 500 m, there is no provision to drill borewells. In rural areas, an NOC should be obtained from the gram panchayat. This standard procedure should be strictly followed,” said ZP CEO Tulasi Maddineni.

 She also said that there are 656 defunct borewells in the district of which 616 were sealed and 40 were pending action.