THE A.P. WATER LAND AND TREES ACT,
2002
An Act to promote Water Conservation and Tree
Cover and regulate exploitation and use of
Ground and Surface water for protection and
Conservation of Water Sources , Land and
Environment and matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto
Constituting of the “Authority”
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10 government & political representatives
3 professors
3 experts
Max 5 nominated
Member secretary - Sec Rural Development
Can ‘sue’ and be ‘sued’
Shall meet once in three months
Has a power of delegating authority to any officer
for carrying out provisions of this Act
Ground water Protection
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Drinking water source protection by regulating
distance between wells
Registration of wells mandatory
Regulation of water extraction
Rain Water Harvesting - building approvals
conditional
Re-Use of waste water
Water Contamination - Prohibition
Aquifiers – direct disposal banned
Surface water
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Optimum use of irrigation water – vague
Lakes, Ponds & Tanks
Heritage bodies/conservation zone declaration (Section
23[1]) to prevent conversion of their intended use
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(None notified so far!)
Can remove encroachments and decide on permissible
pollution levels
Permanent demarcation of boundaries
Designation of officer & Delegation of Authority
(Section 25) – not done in appreciable numbers
Empowered to Evict
No liquid waste to be dumped
Penalisation Provisions – Water bodies
On Damage, alteration or pollution of a water
body,
 Encroachment of water body is an offence
 Offence with imprisonment provision and/or
penalty – very few instances of penalisation
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Reality Contradicts the Act
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Main violators are Govt agencies
Politics of FTL fixation
Municipal facilities provided- door numbers,
electricity connection, bldg permissions, property
tax collected
Violations of Land Use – conversion to parks, burial
grounds, golf courses, memorials, commercial
centers, parking lots etc
FTL Marking exposes rank violations
Hussain Sagar
Golkonda Lakes
Golkonda Lakes