Centre mulls guidelines to manage water for states

The Bill is being drafted taking into account opinions of various stakeholders and it is likely to be finalised by May 15, Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar said here on Sunday.

“Drafting of the legislation is already on and the work is expected to be completed by May 15. This is a framework law. It is not mandatory for states to adhere to it. (Water being a state subject,) states follow their own laws,” he said. “But given the present water crisis, the country needs to follow some common practices to manage water. The Bill will be of help in this regard,” Shekhar added. 

Shekhar said if need be, the ministry will consult other Union ministries before circulating the Bill among states. “It may take a month or so for us to circulate the Bill among states after the draft is finalised,” he said. Terming the present water crisis as ‘very serious’, Shekhar underscored a need for busting the “myth” among public that there is ‘plenty of water available in the country’. 

He pitched for storage of water, especially underground reserve, to avoid evaporation of the limited resource. “Although we have monsoon for a period of 90 days every year, it is only 30-35 days when we receive rainfall,” he added. Latur district in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region has been witnessing acute water crisis and local authorities there have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC near water sources in view of possibility of violence given the current grim situation.

What raises concern is that water stock in 91 major reservoirs in the country has dipped to 24 per cent of their total storage capacity, the government had said recently. 

According to Union Water Resources Ministry, only 37.92 billion cubic metre (BCM) of stock was available across these reservoirs for the week ending April 7. The stock is 31 per cent less than the corresponding period last year. These reservoirs have a total storage capacity of 157.799 BCM.