Tubewells not to be must for vehicle service stations

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 9

In a relief to more than 60 automobile service stations in the city, UT Adviser Manoj Kumar Parida has directed MC Commissioner KK Yadav to make installation of tubewells optional and not mandatory.

Automobile dealers had apprised the Adviser of the problems they were facing in view of the MC decision.

Barinder Saluja, former president of the Automobile Dealers’ Association, said in a recent amendment, the MC had made it mandatory for all vehicle service stations to install shallow tubewells on their premises at their own cost, failing which penal rate would be imposed on them. He added that the MC had already started charging penal rates from service stations, which were double the normal tariff.

The dealers told the Adviser that the amended rule posed certain environment hazards as well as it failed to achieve feasibility or viability with respect to water consumption at a vehicle service station. Nowadays, water table is decreasing at a very fast rate. ln such circumstances, provisioning of shallow tubewell could have catastrophic effect on the groundwater level of the city. Moreover, it was not advisable to pump out groundwater for industrial purposes.

There are 50 to 60 service stations in Phase I and II of the Industrial Area.

Parida also directed the MC chief to review the penal rates being levied on service stations.