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4 ORDINANCE IX OF 1978 BALUCHISTAN GROUND WATER RIGHTS ADMINISTRATION ORDINANCE, 1978 4. Establishment of Water Committee.‑(1) There shall be a water com mittee in each District to be constituted by the Government. (a) The Committee shall consist of Deputy Commissioner, Executive Engineer, Extra Assistant Director Agriculture and one of the non‑official members to be nominated by the Government. Executive Engineer Irrigation will be the Secretary of the Committee. (b) The Committee shall work under the direct supervision and over‑all control of the Provincial Water Board for the purpose of carrying out the objectives of this Ordinance. (c) No person will be allowed to extract ground water within desig nated ground water basins, without the permission of the District Water Committee. (d) Any person who wants to extract ground water within designated ground water basin will submit an application on prescribed form to the District Water Committee. (e) The Committee will invite objections in respect of the above applica tion from various persons having any interest in the ground water either in the vicinity of proposed place of mining of ground water or in the basin as a whole. (f) The Committee will hear all such objections and will give due opportunity to all such interested persons to produce evidence in respect of their contention. After hearing the parties it will either grant permission to the applicant to mine the ground water subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by it or it may reject the application. (g) The District Committee while accepting or rejecting the application will give grounds for doing so. (h) The Committee will have the power to stop the extraction of ground water by any unauthorised person. (i) The Committee will also have the power of forfeiting any machinery, equipment and tools deployed for the purpose of unauthorised extraction of ground water. (j) The Committee may also take cognizance of any dispute pertaining to any tube‑wells/surface wells/karezes pending before any Revenue Officers. (k) The Committee will also issue a permit to any person applying for a new tube‑well which is a substitute for the abandoned well. The Committee may not hear objections in such cases. (l) The Committee may allow a permit holder to change the location of his well before the completion of the well. It will amend the permit if it considers that the change of location does not affect the existing water rights of any other person. (m) While issuing permit the Committee will ensure that the extraction of water by a permit holder does not cause depletion of perennial stream‑ or any other perennial source of water. (n) The decision of the District Water Committee on an application sub mitted to it for extraction of ground water will b‑. governed by the decision of the majority of the members. (o) Any person aggrieved of any order of the District Water Committee may file an appeal before the Commissioner of the Division within a period of 30 days. (p) The provincial Water Board shall have the power to call for the record of any case relating to the Water rights pending either before the District Water Committee or the Commissioner, to examine and satisfy itself as to the regularity, propriety and legality of these proceedings. It may set aside any of the order and quash the proceedings if it considers that any material irregularity has occurred so as to occasion a miscarriage to justice.