BENGALURU: Scenes of borewell rigs digging deep into the city's entrails in search of water are quite common. Even the most modest estimate puts the number of borewells in a city spread over 712sqkm, with 19 lakh properties, at a few lakhs.Especially as only half the city's population is supplied piped water. But statistics with the BWSSB show that there are only 6,690 borewells in Bengaluru.The board had, in 2012, come out with a notification calling upon all residents and commercial and industrial units in the city to register with it if they owned a borewell in their premises. The notification also mandated that those digging borewells should get the Board's approval.Applications started coming in in 2013, and the Board has so far received 16,473 applications, including those for registering existing borewells and digging fresh ones. The applications are forwarded to the Ground Water Directorate under the department of mines and geology , to check whether permission can be granted in a particular area.Based on the quality of groundwater in an area, applications are either accepted or rejected. As per data available with the BWSSB, so far, only 6,690 borewells have been given the nod. The number includes existing borewells that were being registered, as well as those seeking permission for digging.So what action does the Water Board initiate against ille gal ones? Nothing much. A senior official from the maintenance wing of BWSSB told TOI, “We definitely don't have enough staff to monitor violations pertaining to borewells. We act on ir re gularities through our sub-divisional officers, only when somebody lodges a complaint against illegal drilling of borewells. We have powers to cut power supply to such borewells. However, we don't have consolidated data on action taken against illegal borewells as they need to be compiled from sub-divisional offices,“ he added.TIMES VIEWIn a city where groundwater is touching dangerously low levels, civic authorities have no idea how many borewells have been dug, and are being drilled even today. While the government did wake up to the depleting water table and the need for conservation rather late, it has made a halfhearted effort to stop the rampant exploitation. Rules are flouted with impunity, with a strong water tanker lobby subverting any efforts to rein them in. Neither does the government have much information about private suppliers. The authorities should view water as a common and precious resource, and ensure we conserve it.