Agricultural usage, key reason for water depletion: Govt

New Delhi, Mar 15 (UNI) The Government has admitted that agricultural pumpage is the key cause for rapid depletion of ground water in various parts of the country.

Expressing concerns, Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz said the decline is the cumulative effect of ground water withdrawal for all purposes including domestic, industrial as well as agricultural sectors.

According to a study conducted by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), in Plachimada village of Kerala, ground water withdrawal for irrigation was found to be 92.6 per cent of the total ground water withdrawal, whereas for industry it was 3.4 per cent.

While, in Kaladera village of Rajasthan, the ground water withdrawal for irrigation was 81.28 per cent and for industry 12.57 per cent of the total ground water withdrawal, the study said.

CGWB, set up in 1997, monitors ground water levels on a regional basis and carries out assessment studies at watershed/block levels.

The study has been carried out in Plachimada village, Chittor block, Palakkad district in Kerela and Kaladera village, Govindgarh block, Jaipur dictrict in Rajasthan, where soft drink manufacturing factories are located.

After the controversial Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Kerala was shut down, a report claimed that ''the concentration of chromium, cadmium and lead in water bodies around the premises is much above permissible limits''.

The report was released by the Hazards Centre and the Dehra Dun-based People's Science Institute. The NGOs said they had been invited by the village panchayat to test the water quality and learn about the problems faced by the villagers living near the Hindustan Coca Cola Pvt Ltd plant at Plachimada in Palghat.

Mr Dunu Roy, Director, Hazards Centre, said the team had collected nine water samples, five from open wells and four from bore wells in distances ranging from 10 to 750 meters from the Coca-Cola plant.

All the nine samples contained chromium in excess of limits prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Coca-Cola disputed the claim.

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