(1) Any person aggrieved by a decision or action of the Ground Water Authority under this Act may, within a period of thirty days from the date on which the action is taken or the decision is communicated to him and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed, prefer an appeal to such authority as may be specified by the Government in this behalf:
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Provided that the appellate authority may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of thirty days, if it is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
(2) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the appellate authority shall, after giving the appellant an opportunity of being heard, dispose of the appeal within three months from the date of receipt of the appeal petition.
Bar of jurisdiction of civil courts
24. No civil Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of any matter which the Government or the Ground Water Authority is empowered by this Act to determine and no injunction shall be granted by any court or any other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken in pursuance of any powers conferred by or under this Act.
Power to make rules
25.(1) The Government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-
(a) the term of office and manner of filling vacancies and other conditions of service among the members and Chairman of the Ground Water Authority;
(b) the functions and the terms and conditions of service of the employees of the Ground Water Authority;
(c) any other manner of effecting service of the notification under clause (c) of sub-section (5) of section 5;
(d) the form of application under sub-section (2) of section 6 and sub-section
(2) of section 11 and the particulars that may be furnished with these applications;
(e) the form of application under section 7;
(f) fees to accompany the application for licence under sub-section (2) of section 11;
(g) the form of the permit and certificate of registration under sub-section (6) of section 6 and sub-section (6) of section 7 and the conditions/restrictions that may be specified therein;
(h) the form of licence under sub-section (3) of section 11 and the condition that may be specified therein;
(i) the form in which and the interval at which the information or return under clause (e) of sub-section (1) of section 13 shall be furnished and the particulars with such information or return shall contain;
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(j) specifying the appellate authority under sub-section (1) of section 23 and the fees to accompany the application for appeal;
(k) any other matter which is required to be or may be prescribed.
(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fifteen days, which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, or the successive sessions aforesaid, the House agrees in making any modification in the rule or the House agrees that the rule should not be made, the rule thereafter shall have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification, or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything done earlier under that rule.
______ STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS FOR ACT NO. 2 OF 2003 In the early Sixties, irrigation was mainly carried out through major tanks and small ponds. But of late, due to inadequate receipt of monsoon and improper functioning of the system structure, the area commanded by tanks and ponds has declined drastically.
2. The water level was between six to eight metres below the ground level in the early Seventies and there were only about four thousand service connections. Due to the ever increasing demand for agriculture besides industry, education, housing, etc., the dependency on ground water has increased considerably. As a result of this, now the water level in the tube-wells has declined to twenty to fifty, metres below ground level. The decline in water level has been further aggravated by the large-scale installation of deep well submersible pump in place of centrifugal ones for augmenting lift irrigation. Sea water intrusion has also been noticed along the coast. This is a dangerous situation and if left uncontrolled, it will lead to further advance of sea water towards inland and ultimate dissertation of the region.
3. The proposed legislation prohibits sinking of tubewells without prior permission of the competent authority. Provision has also been made for taking penal action against those who violate the provisions of the Act.
4. By undertaking this legislation, over exploitation of ground water can be checked, controlled and regulated.
5. This Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
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