(1) The prescribed authority or
any person authorized by it in writing in this behalf, shall have the power to––
(a) enter on any property (private or government owned) with the right to investigate and make any measurements concerning the land or the water located on surface or underground ;
(b) inspect the well which has been or is being sunk and the soils and other materials excavated therefrom ;
(c) take specimen of such soils or other materials or of water extracted from such wells ;
(d) require by order in writing the persons sinking a well to keep and preserve in the prescribed manner specimens of soils or any material excavated therefrom for such period not exceeding three months from the date of completion or abandonment of the work, as may be specified by the prescribed authority or the person so authorised, as the case may be and thereupon such person shall comply with such requisition ;
(e) inspect and to take copies of the relevant record or documents and ask any question necessary for obtaining any information (including diameter or depth of the well which is being or has been sunk; the level at which the water is or was stuck and subsequently restored/ rested, the types of strata encountered in the sinking of the well and the quality of the water stuck) required for carrying out the purposes of the Act ;
(f) require, by order in writing, the user of ground water to install water measuring device on any ground water extraction structures :
Provided that where the user of ground water does not comply with the requisition issued to him within a period of sixty days, the prescribed authority itself may install such water measuring device and the cost so incurred shall be recoverable from the defaulting user of ground water as arrears of land revenue ;
(g) seize any equipment/device utilized for illegal sinking and destroy the work executed fully or partly ;
(h) require, by order in writing, any user of ground water who does not comply with the provisions of the Act and rules framed thereunder to close down the extraction of ground water or destroy any hydraulic work found to be illegal according to the provisions of the Act or the rules framed there under :
Provided that where the user of ground water does not comply with the requisition issued to him within a period of sixty days, the prescribed authority itself may carry out the necessary work and recover the cost from the illegal user of ground water as arrears of land revenue ;
(i) enter and search with such assistance, as it considers necessary, any place in which it has reason to believe that offence under the Act has been, or is being, committed and, direct by an order in writing, the person who has been, or is, committing the offence not to extract or use the ground water from a specified period not exceeding thirty days ;
(j) exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of the Act or the rules made hereunder.
(2) The power conferred by this section includes the power to break open the door of any premises where sinking of well or extraction/use of ground water may be going on :
Provided that the power to break open the door shall be exercised only after the owner or any other person in occupation of the premises, if he is present therein, refuses to open the door on being called to do so :
Provided further that if any such place is an apartment in the actual occupancy of a woman who, according to custom, does not appear in public, such officer shall, before entering such apartment, give notice to such woman that she is at liberty to withdraw and shall afford her every reasonable facility for withdrawing, and may then enter the apartment.
(3) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Samvat 1989 shall, so far as may be, apply to any search or seizure under this section as they apply to any search or seizure made under the authority of a warrant issued under the said Code.
(a) enter on any property (private or government owned) with the right to investigate and make any measurements concerning the land or the water located on surface or underground ;
(b) inspect the well which has been or is being sunk and the soils and other materials excavated therefrom ;
(c) take specimen of such soils or other materials or of water extracted from such wells ;
(d) require by order in writing the persons sinking a well to keep and preserve in the prescribed manner specimens of soils or any material excavated therefrom for such period not exceeding three months from the date of completion or abandonment of the work, as may be specified by the prescribed authority or the person so authorised, as the case may be and thereupon such person shall comply with such requisition ;
(e) inspect and to take copies of the relevant record or documents and ask any question necessary for obtaining any information (including diameter or depth of the well which is being or has been sunk; the level at which the water is or was stuck and subsequently restored/ rested, the types of strata encountered in the sinking of the well and the quality of the water stuck) required for carrying out the purposes of the Act ;
(f) require, by order in writing, the user of ground water to install water measuring device on any ground water extraction structures :
Provided that where the user of ground water does not comply with the requisition issued to him within a period of sixty days, the prescribed authority itself may install such water measuring device and the cost so incurred shall be recoverable from the defaulting user of ground water as arrears of land revenue ;
(g) seize any equipment/device utilized for illegal sinking and destroy the work executed fully or partly ;
(h) require, by order in writing, any user of ground water who does not comply with the provisions of the Act and rules framed thereunder to close down the extraction of ground water or destroy any hydraulic work found to be illegal according to the provisions of the Act or the rules framed there under :
Provided that where the user of ground water does not comply with the requisition issued to him within a period of sixty days, the prescribed authority itself may carry out the necessary work and recover the cost from the illegal user of ground water as arrears of land revenue ;
(i) enter and search with such assistance, as it considers necessary, any place in which it has reason to believe that offence under the Act has been, or is being, committed and, direct by an order in writing, the person who has been, or is, committing the offence not to extract or use the ground water from a specified period not exceeding thirty days ;
(j) exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of the Act or the rules made hereunder.
(2) The power conferred by this section includes the power to break open the door of any premises where sinking of well or extraction/use of ground water may be going on :
Provided that the power to break open the door shall be exercised only after the owner or any other person in occupation of the premises, if he is present therein, refuses to open the door on being called to do so :
Provided further that if any such place is an apartment in the actual occupancy of a woman who, according to custom, does not appear in public, such officer shall, before entering such apartment, give notice to such woman that she is at liberty to withdraw and shall afford her every reasonable facility for withdrawing, and may then enter the apartment.
(3) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Samvat 1989 shall, so far as may be, apply to any search or seizure under this section as they apply to any search or seizure made under the authority of a warrant issued under the said Code.