Public wells in the city are allegedly on the danger of disappearing, according to a public interest petition (PIL) filed with the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur division. Many wells have currently degenerated into trash cans, and the water in many more is contaminated. The commissioner of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, the regional director of the Central Ground Water Board, the regional officer of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, and the director of NEERI have all received notices from the court, and they have four weeks to respond.
The petition has been filed by social worker Sandesh Sin- galkar. The petition was heard by Justice Atul Chandurkar and Mahendra Chandwani. In 2021, NEERI conducted a sur- vey of the city’s public wells. A total of 666 public wells fall under Nagpur Municipal Cor- poration (NMC). Of these, 230 were found to have been turned into dustbins while remaining also are in bad condition. “In order to get clean water in the future, preservation of public wells should be initiated,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner further said, “Groundwater is the only im- portant source of drinking water and due to administra- tion’s negligence, this source is in danger. Throwing garbage in wells is against the law, but NMC is not paying attention to it. This is dangerous. Wells help maintain groundwater level. If wells are not conserved, the groundwater level will also be in danger.” The petitioner has demanded the city’s public wells be cleaned and deepened while the water sources of the wells be revitalised. Advocate Smita Singalkar appeared on behalf of petitioner.