National Board told to frame guidelines for water sharing

PM calls for transparency in project implementations

DH News Service
NEW DELHI, April 1

HIGHLIGHTS
States to set up River Basin Organisations to resolve all water-related issues.

Water tribunals to give awards in six years.

The National Water Board to formulate guidelines on sharing of waters among states.

Emphasis on integrated development and management of water resources of optimal and sustainable utilisation of available surface and ground water.

Recognition of creating well-developed information system and using of traditional methods of water conservation and non-conventional methods for water utilisation.

States to formulate their water polices.

The National Water Resources Council (NWRC) today adopted the National Water Policy (NWP) with some modifications as suggested by the states while leaving out the contentious issue of allocation of inter-state river waters even as Prime Minister A B Vajpayee gave a call for transparency in the implementation of water projects.

The NWP provides for setting up of River Basin Organisations (RBOs) by each state to resolve the issues relating to water within that particular state, while the Centre will play facilitator role. The new policy says all water tribunals constituted henceforth will have to give their awards within a stipulated six-year term.
The issue of formulating guidelines to sharing of water between and among states has been referred to the National Water Board for detailed deliberations. The board has representatives of all states and will arrive at a consensus on the guidelines. There was no consensus on this score in the working group and core group set up by the NWRC to arrive at unanimity of views on the NWP. Hence, it has now been referred to the Board. The NWRC called upon the states to prepare their own water policies. Karnataka and a couple of other states already have their own policies.

Integrated management
The revised policy lays emphasis on integrated water resources development and management for optimal and sustainable utilisation of the available surface and ground water. Creation of well-developed information system, use of traditional methods of water conservation, non-conventional methods for water utilisation and demand management have been recognised as important inputs in the new policy. It integrates quantity and quality aspects as well as environmental considerations for water through adequate arrangements including setting up of RBOs. ""The scope and powers of the RBOs shall be decided by the basin states themselves,"" the adopted policy says while deleting the earlier proposal that the power to establish it lies with the Centre.

The NWP has accepted most of the suggestions that Karnataka made during the core group and working group meetings.

State Water Resources Minister H K Patil was a member of both the panels set up to iron out differences and arrive at consensus.

Punjab''s opposition
Only Punjab raised an objection to the NWP today citing its inter-state dispute with Haryana. Haryana Chief Minister O P Chautala, who spoke first after Mr Vajpayee accused Punjab of not implementing the Supreme Court decision on Sutlej-Yamuna link canal, while his Punjab counterpart, Capt Amarinder Singh, said he would not accept NWP unless the problem was sorted out. He, however, agreed to the NWP as he was told that the inter-state disputes has been referred to the Board.

The prime minister, who is also the chairman of the NWRC, in his address to the chief ministers and water resources ministers who participated at the conference, was of the opinion that the NWP should start a new culture of public monitoring of expenditure and outcomes of water projects.
On the controversial RBOs, the proposal on which has finally been accepted, he said an institutional and legal framework in the form of RBOs was essential for adopting a holistic and integrated approach to the water resources management.

Later, in his concluding remarks, Mr Vajpayee, who sat through the four-hour conference, said with the passage of the Inter State Water Disputes (amendment) Act in Parliament, it was now possible to settle the inter-state disputes in a time-bound manner as the tribunals have to give their final decision within a maximum period of six years. ""This would surely expedite the resolutions of inter-state water disputes.""