Minister of Water Resources and Parliamentary
Affairs, Pawan Kumar Bansal has said that there is a need to move
towards transparent and participatory mechanisms of pricing of water by
independent Water Regulatory Authorities. He was addressing the meeting
of the Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament of the Ministry
of Water Resources in New Delhi on July 11.
Emphasizing that the planning, development and management of water
resources has to keep pace with current realities, Shri Bansal said
there is a suggestion that a broad over-arching national legal framework
of general principles on water is necessary to pave the way for
essential legislation on water governance in every State. He said the
need for a comprehensive legislation for optimum development of
Inter-State rivers and river valleys has been recognized. The Minister
said the draft National Water Policy recommends that the management of
irrigation systems should move away from a narrow
engineering-construction-centric approach to a more multi-disciplinary
and participatory approach. He pointed out that the draft policy
emphasizes the need to determine the ecological needs of rivers and also
institutionalization of community based water management. Shri Bansal
called for building up incentives to narrow the gap between irrigation
capacities created and those being utilized.
Stating that water security of the future will depend on efficient
management of water, Shri Bansal said we need to be conscious of water
footprints and evolve benchmarks for its efficient use. He added that
efficient use of water in Industry through recycling has been adequately
emphasized in the Policy. He recalled that increasing water use
efficiency by 20% is one of the goals of National Water Mission.
The Minister expressed concern over the decline in the ground water
table across the country. Pointing out that the present legal situation
gives every land holder the right to pump unlimited quantities of water
from a bore well, Shri Bansal said there is no regulation of ground
water extraction and no coordination among competing uses. He added that
inadequate and sub-optimal pricing of both power and water is promoting
the misuse of groundwater. Shri Bansal called for moving to a situation
where ground-water can be treated as a common property resource held by
the state under public trust doctrine. He said there is a need to map
aquifers to quantify the water availability and let the community know
and manage their aquifer for ensuring water security. Stating that the
access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation are basic human
needs, Shri Bansal said the policy classifies drinking water and
sanitation needs as pre-emptive needs and the governance institution
must ensure availability of water for these needs within easy reach of
every household.
Minister of State for Water Resources and Minority Affairs, Shri Vincent
H. Pala was also present. The Members of Parliament who were present
included Dr. Gyan Prakash Pilania, Dr. Prabha Kishor Taviad, Dr. Jyoti
Mirdha, Shri Mohan Jena, Shri G. S. Basavaraj, Dr. Kirodilal Meena, Shri
Ijyaraj Singh and Shri Rajaiah Siricilla. Several suggestions were made
in the meeting which included recognizing water as national resource
and bringing it into concurrent list, popularizing micro irrigation,
prioritizing water needs of people living in water deficit areas,
promoting rainwater harvesting, preventing wastage of water flowing into
sea, checking illegal mining in river beds, introducing punitive
measures to check water pollution and introducing cropping patterns
based on availability of water in the area. Some members called for
identifying water stressed states and giving them special status for
central assistance.
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