Mumbai: For the first time since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) made the Central Groundwater Authority (CGWA)’s NOC mandatory in 2017, 620 wells out of nearly 18,000 in Mumbai have been brought on record so that their extraction and use can be monitored and charged. Most of these are bore wells.An RTI application by groundwater activist Suresh Kumar Dhoka has revealed that 619 wells have been given an NOC from the CGWA in the past few weeks and are being tracked for further vigilance by revenue and local administrations.It is due to Dhoka’s crusade against the illegal commercial exploitation of wells for a decade that NOCs are now being made mandatory by BMC. The move, said Dhoka, will help the administration in conducting sustainable groundwater management during summer, besides checking the illegal exploitation of well water: tanker owners are estimated to have supplied water worth over Rs 3 lakh crore over the past two decades, supplying to even infrastructure project sites of govt agencies. Despite NGT directions in 2017 for mandatory NOCs, BMC gave permission to over 5,156 wells without well owners obtaining an NOC from CGWA. In 2021, there were only 12 wells belonging to industrial units in Mumbai that obtained an NOC. In all, Mumbai has over 18,000 wells, mainly borewells, tube, and ring wells, leading to heavy extraction of groundwater, especially during summer. As per groundwater rules, extraction of well water for commercial purposes without an NOC can attract criminal action under the Environment Protection Act, and the Mumbai police commissioner can file criminal cases under sections 379, 426, and 430 of IPC, for theft, mischief, and wrongly diverting water resources.If the well owners fail to obtain an NOC, a huge environmental compensation is imposed as per the Groundwater Act, which also empowers authorities to impose a fine of Rs 2-5 lakh and/or put the person behind bars for six months to one year for non-compliance with the Act. If tankers supply water from wells that have no NOC, such tankers can be sealed and a criminal offence registered against them for damaging the environment, said Dhoka.Around 3,000 tankers extract water from Mumbai’s well daily; each tanker makes at least three to five rounds. The business of illegally extracted groundwater is worth around Rs 3-4 lakh crore, says Dhoka.