Bengaluru, Mar 11 (IANS): The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in its latest order, has made it compulsory to get permission from the authorities before drilling bore wells, an official note released by it on Monday stated.

The order has been issued in the interest of utilising ground water efficiently and also in the interest of the public.

The order stated that legal action would be initiated against people if bore well drilling was undertaken by them without permission from the authorities concerned in the limits of Bengaluru, under column 11 of the Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011.

The BWSSB officers have been directed to file violation complaints in this regard and initiate legal action against the owners of the bore wells.

The orders will come into force from March 15 and applications can be submitted on the BWSSB’s portal from that date.

“Priority would be given to public bore wells and for private persons the ground water level, need and expert opinion will be considered for granting the permission,” the release stated.

The ground water in Bengaluru city has been depleted by the shortage of rainfall and many bore wells have gone dry.

“It is made compulsory to obtain permission from the concerned authorities to dig bore wells at specific points. Due to unscientific drilling of bore wells the ground water levels are depleting,” the release stated.