According to a press release from the District Development Commissioner’s office in Ramban on August 13th, the Executive Engineer of the Jal Shakti Department Division in Ramban has been instructed to begin collecting fees from private water tankers and other interested parties for the use of the district’s water infrastructure.
Official communique NO:-DDCR/Plg/2023-24/4082-89, Dated: 09.08.2023, from Deputy Commissioner Ramban, Mussarat Islam directing Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti Department, Division, Ramban to collect water consumption fees from private water tankers and stakeholders.
A large number of private water tankers and water tankers of various stakeholder departments are filling water from various sources in the Ramban district without paying any Water Usage charges to the Jal Shakti Department as notified under the Jammu and Kashmir Water Resource Regulation and Management Act, prompting the Deputy Commissioner to issue the directives.
Many other Jal Shakti Divisions, it has been learned, levy water consumption fees on the proprietors of private water tankers and other stakeholder departments in exchange for the privilege of drawing water from Jal Shakti Department (JSD) reservoirs.
In order to collect Water Usage charges from private water tankers/other stakeholders in the Ramban District, as is done in other Jal Shakti Divisions of the Jammu Division, the Deputy Commissioner Ramban, Mussarat Islam, has ordered the Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti Department, Division Ramban to begin the process immediately. The proceeds will be sent to the UT Treasury.
In addition, the Deputy Commissioner demanded that the Executive Engineer deliver to his office by 25 August a copy of the Action Taken Report and information on the locations of water sources from which water is being illegally removed by private tankers and other stakeholders.
