Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Latur district administration, in a major move to curb indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater, has imposed a complete ban on the commercial sale of water and its transport by tankers without prior permission.
Any violation of orders will attract criminal cases, fine and imprisonment under section 52 of Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act, 2009,” Bastewad said.
Flying squads will check illegal sale and transport and seize tankers found violating the ban,” the collector said. As per the order issued by the collector, who is also the chairperson of district disaster management authority, no person or institution will be allowed to sell groundwater commercially or transport it through tankers without obtaining prior permission from the administration. “For effective implementation, all sub-divisional officers, tehsildars, block development officers and police administration have been given powers to conduct inspections, seize unauthorized equipment and disconnect power supply of violators.