Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, 2002

No: 1 Dated: Jan, 25 2002

Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, 2002

An act to regulate and control the development of groundwater resources and matters connected therewith.

BE it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Goa in the Fifty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

1. Short title, extent and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called the Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, 2002.

(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Goa.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

2. Definitions.— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

(a) “Act” means the Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, 2002;

(b) “Cell” means the ground water cell constituted under the Act;

(c) “Government” means the Government of Goa; 

(d) “ground water” means the water under the surface of the earth regardless of the geological structure in which it is stationery or moving and includes all ground water reservoirs;

(e) “Ground Water Officer” means the Ground Water Officer authorised and/or appointed by the Government to perform the functions of the Ground Water Officer under this Act;

(f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(g) “sink” with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions in relation to a well shall include any digging, drilling or boring of a well or deepening carried out to the existing wells;

(h) “source of water” means the water which exists in the nallahs, wells, rivulets, rivers, lakes, ponds, bore wells, tube wells, canals, springs, etc.;

(i) “user of ground water” means the person or persons or an institution including a company or an establishment, whether Government or not, who or which own or use or draw ground water for any purpose, including domestic, industrial, environmental, ecological and agricultural use, made either on a personal, institutional or community basis;

(j) “well” means a well sunk for the search or extraction of ground water by person or persons except by the authorised Officials of the State or Central Government’s, for carrying out scientific investigations, exploration, development or management work for the survey and assessment of ground water resources and includes open well, dug well, sunk well, bore well, tube well, tank, pond, dug-cum-bore well, filter point, collector well and infiltration gallery.