Indore:
Due to potable water shortage and declining underground water table, Indore was declared water scarcity-hit district for the next three months beginning April 1, a top official said.
District Collector Raghvendra Singh issued the order to this effect on Friday, quoting him an official of the state Public Relation Department said on Saturday.
The order would be effective from April 1 to July 9 and during this period, no one would be allowed to dig hand pumps or boring of well without the district administration's permission, the official said.
The water table in villages and the outskirts of city was declining sharply, and about 355 hand pumps were found dead, the Collector was quoted.
The water resource department was directed to monitor the scarcity hit areas and make available potable water in far-flung areas of the district, he said.