Review of National Water Policy

The Union Minister of Water Resources & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal held Consultation Meeting with the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu for review of the National Water Policy on 2nd November, 2011 at National Water Academy, Pune. Speaking on the occasion, he stated that our National Water Policy should be truly a National Policy with full participation of all stakeholders throughout the country. He called upon the elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions to provide specific feedback for policy inputs to address present concerns in water resources sector.

The Union Minister of State for Water Resources Shri Vincent H. Pala briefed the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions about the consultation process undertaken by the Ministry of Water Resources for review of National Water Policy. More than 50 elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu participated in consultation meeting. A video conferencing was also arranged so that more elected representatives could participate in the consultation meeting from their respective places, viz., Nagpur, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Goa, Silvassa, Indore, Jabalpur, etc.

The first National Water Policy was adopted by National Water Resources Council in 1987. This was revised and updated in April, 2002. Since then not only major developments have taken place in water sector, but also a greater realization has come that water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset. Planning, development and management of water resources needs to be governed by national perspectives. Therefore, it was considered necessary to review the provisions of the National Water Policy in consultation with all stakeholders to re-orient the policy directives according to the changing times.

The Ministry of Water Resources has initiated a comprehensive consultation process for review of National Water Policy with a view that all sections of the society join hands in resolving complex issues of water management in current scenario of water scarcity and impending dangers of climate change. Consultation meeting has been held with the Hon’ble Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources, Hon’ble Members of the Consultative Committee for Ministry of Water Resources and Hon’ble Members of the Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management. Consultation meetings have also been held with academicians, experts and professionals; corporate representatives and NGOs. Consultation meetings with the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from Southern States were held on 16.06.2011 at Hyderabad, from North Eastern States on 30.06.2011 at Shillong, from Northern States at Jaipur on 14.07.2011 and from Western States on 02.11.11 at Pune.

Panchayati Raj Institutions have been given vital role in the areas of Drinking water, Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development as per Eleventh Schedule of our Constitution. All these subjects are critical in ensuring livelihood to the rural population and the involvement of the Panchayati Raj Institutions is, therefore, vital. The experiences and in depth knowledge of the subjects at the grass root level by the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions would help in a long way in identifying the correct approaches for addressing various issues in water resources and to appropriately reflect them in the National Water Policy.

During the Consultation meeting, the elected representatives highlighted the issue of potable drinking water and sanitation, sewage treatment, deterioration in water quality, depletion of ground water level, illegal sand mining from river beds and suggested desilting, making mandatory construction of farm ponds, roof top rain water harvesting, maintenance of water infrastructure as part of contract, adequate funding to local bodies, construction of check dams, etc.

Shri G. Mohan Kumar, Additional Secretary (Water Resources), Government of India, Shri Chetan Pandit, Chief Engineer, National Water Academy and other senior Officers from Central/State Government were also present during the consultation meeting.