Pollution by Cold Drink Companies

The studies carried out by Central Ground Water Board reveal that agriculture is the predominant user of ground water. As per the latest assessment of ground water resources carried out jointly by the Central Ground Water Board and State Ground Water Organizations, the withdrawal of groundwater for domestic and industrial uses together is about 8% of the total ground water extraction while the remaining 92 % of ground water withdrawal is for irrigation.

Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), constituted by the Ministry of Water Resources under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 has prepared guidelines for extraction of ground water by industries / projects (including soft drink factories) falling in different category areas in the country. All new industries / projects and also those under expansion are required to obtain prior approval of CGWA before extraction of ground water. CGWA has notified 43 areas in different parts of the country, where commercial extraction of ground water by new industries / projects is not permitted. Deputy Commissioners / District Magistrates of these notified areas have been authorized by the Authority to take suitable action against the violators, if any.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (Independent Charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh, in a written reply to a question by S/Shri Khagen Das, Neeraj Shekhar, Shivarama Gouda, Gopinath Munde, Gorakh Prasad Jaiswal, A.T. Nana Patil, Shripad Yesso Naik, P. Balram Naik, Sanjay Singh Chauhan, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, Rajaiah Siricilla, Suresh Kumar Shetkar & Ponnam Prabhakar in Lok Sabha today.

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KP