The Madhya Pradesh High Court has recently observed that just because borewells did not yield water, it would not mean that there is corruption or other allegation against the State while dismissing a petition.
The Petition has been filed by one Balchand Shinde, a resident of Burhanpur.
The facts of the matter is that there is an acute scarcity of water therein. A firm was awarded the contract for drilling of ordinary and gravel packed tubewells of the dimension specified therein. Even though the borewells were dug, they did not yield any water and in some cases, only minimal water was obtained. The problem of acute shortage of water continues. The Lokayukta, Bhopal was informed about the irregularities in relation to the contract but no action has been taken. Hence, the petitioner approached the High Court.
Pranay Choubey, the counsel for the petitioner, contended that there has been a wrongful award of contract. In various places, the borewells were dug and it did not yield any water. Therefore, necessary action be taken against the State, its officials as well as the person who bagged the contract.
On hearing the counsel for the petitioner, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav did not find any merit in the petition.
The Bench held that the question of obtaining water by drilling a borewell is not a 100/% accurate position. The existence of underground water is a matter of chance. Even though various equipment may be used for the purpose of identifying the same, the fact remains that the success rate in obtaining water through borewells is limited.
“If at all, anybody is aware of where the water exists, then a borewell would be dug at that place itself. Only because the dug borewells were unsuccessful does not mean that there is any corruption or other allegation against the State,” the Court observed while disposing the petition.