A GANAPATHY Vs. GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The relief sought for in this Writ Petition is to declare the action of the respondent authorities, in making a blanket declaration that a distance of 250 metres shall be maintained from the alleged public drinking water source to the point where the petitioner proposed to dig a borewell and in rejecting the application of the petitioner, as illegal and unconstitutional. A consequential relief is sought to direct the respondents not to interfere with the activities of the petitioner in digging a borewell as per his application after declaring that there is no blanket ban to dig a borewell within 250 metres of an alleged public drinking water source. By the impugned proceedings dated 29.04.2013, the petitioner was informed that the subject borewell was not in the ayakut region; as per the orders issued by the Government any new borewell for drinking water purposes must be located at a distance of at least 250 metres; and the proposed site of the applicant was 134 metres from a borewell which was being used for drinking water by the people. The petitioner's application was, therefore, rejected.

(2.) Sri K.S. Murthy, learned counsel for the petitioner, would question the validity of the impugned order on the grounds that every borewell cannot be treated as a public drinking water source and it is only the source, from which the Government or any local authority provide drinking water to the public, which can be said to be a "public drinking water source"; mere proximity to a public drinking water source, even if it is within a distance of less than 250 metres, is not prohibited under Section 10 of the A.P. Water, Land and Trees Act, 2002 ("WALTA" for short); any person, who intends to sink a well, can seek permission of the authority who is required to examine the application in accordance with Section 10(3) of WALTA; the restriction under G.O.Ms. No. 227, dated 08.04.2013 is only that a borewell should not be dug within a distance of 250 metres from a public drinking water source as per Clause 10 of WALTA; the proceedings dated 30.04.2013 reveals that there were 59 borewells in the village and there was no record to show that permission had been obtained by them; the petitioner has been singled out for discriminatory treatment; and no action has been initiated against the other 59 persons.

(3.) Section 2(12) of WALTA defines a 'public drinking water source' to mean a well from which the Government, or any local authority, or such other authority as the Government may by notification specify, provide water to the public and includes such well or any other drinking water source as may be notified by the Authority. Section 2(22) defines 'well' to mean a well sunk for the search and extraction of ground water and includes a dug well, borewell, dug-cum-borewell, tube well, and filter point. Section 10(1) prohibits any person, subject to sub-section (2), from sinking a well in the vicinity of a public drinking water source within a distance of 250 metres in areas other than the areas covered under Section 9 and sub-section (1) of Section 11 of WALTA.