Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

1. (1) "any other law for the time being in force" means a law enacted under any of the entries enumerated in List II-State List in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India and in force for the time being;
2. (2) "Appropriate Authority" means the Collector of a district and includes any officer, not below the rank of the Deputy Collector, as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint for the purposes of this Act; and different officers may be appointed for different local areas of the State;
3. (3) "drinking water purposes" in relation to the use of water, means consumption or use of water by human population for drinking and for other domestic purposes, and includes consumption of water for similar such relevant purposes for cattle; Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, the expression "domestic purposes" shall include consumption or use of water for cooking, bathing, washing, cleansing and other day-to-day activities;
4. (4) "groundwater" means water existing in an aquifer below the surface of the ground at any particular location regardless of the geological structure in which it is stationary or moving and includes all groundwater reservoirs:
5. (5) "over-exploited watershed" means a watershed where the estimated annual groundwater extraction is more than 85 per cent. of the estimated average annual groundwater recharge, calcuated in the prescribed manner, and declared as such under section 6;
6. (6) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules;
7. (7) "public drinking water source" means a well from which the State Government or a local authority or such other authority as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, provides water to the public, and includes such weir or any other drinking water source as may be notified by the Collector;
8. (8) "public water-supply system" means the structures relating to a public drinking water source, including conveying pipelines, storage reservoir, standposts, cisterns, hand pump, power pump and all other materials connected thereto, through which water is supplied for drinking water purpose;
9. (9) "rules" means the rules made under this Act;
10. (10) "sink" with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, in relation to a well, includes any drilling, boring or digging of a new well or deepening carried out to an existing well;
11. (11) "Technical Officer" means a Geologist in the office of the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency not below the rank of an Assistant Geologist;
12. (12) "water, scarcity area" means an area declared as such by the Collector of the district under section 4;
13. (13) "watershed" means an area confined within the topographic water divide line, as identified and notified by the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency from time to time, having regard to the purposes of this Act;
14. (14) "well" means a well sunk for the search for, or extraction of, groundwater and includes a dug well, bore-well, dug-cum-bore-well, tube-well and filter point.