Oct 30, Colombo: The Irrigation Ministry of Sri Lanka is yet to decide on charging a fee from large scale commercial and industrial establishments that are engaged in large scale ground water extraction.

The Ministry is currently discussing the need to monitor the extraction of ground water for industrial purposes in order to maintain the quality of the ground water.

Irrigation Ministry Secretary Ivan de Silva said the extraction of ground water for commercial industrial purposes needs to be monitored and that the issue is currently being discussed.

However, he observed that the cost for regular monitoring of ground water extraction by the Water Resources Board would cost money and that it should be recovered from the relevant companies.

"It is the responsibility of the relevant companies that are engaged in extracting ground water to ensure that it is done in a manner that would not cause an issue," he explained.

De Silva said that the government's responsibility was to ensure the quality of the ground water.

However, he also emphasized that the government did not have any intention to impose a tax on the ground water consumption for domestic, agriculture and drinking purposes.