The Uttar Pradesh government is seriously contemplating a ban on free boring in regions where there has been a rapid depletion in the groundwater table. In a written reply to a question asked by BJP MLA, Dr Narendra Singh Gaur, parliamentary affairs minister Mohammed Azam Khan said the state government was serious on the issue of depletion of groundwater resources and had adopted a multipronged strategy to control the damage being done by reckless boring.