In order to ensure sustained water security through the principles of protection, regulation and management, the Union Government has urged the State Government to pass a suitable resolution in the Odisha legislative Assembly in support of the proposed National Water Framework law (NWFl).
Union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry Secretary Amarjit Singh has urged the State Government to favour the proposed NWFl, which is an umbrella of general principles that would provide guidance to the Union, State and local Government organisations in the matter of water management.
Dr Singh has pointed out that presently, water is dealt with by 11 Union Ministries and by all the State Governments and Union Territories. laws are enacted for governing the use and development of the scarce resources, and many are quite divergent in their perceptions, approaches, doctrines and institutional arrangements.
Therefore, conjoint action is needed, for which the National Framework for Water has been given the shape of a law. The final draft of NWFl has been prepared after consultation with stakeholders as well as top water experts of the country, said he.
Singh has said that the proposed Act is a guidance doctrine, which suggests water as a “Common Pool” resource and obligates the State Governments to ensure right to water for life to citizens through development of rivers and groundwater, development of integrated river basin management and resolution of inter-State river disputes.
The Union Secretary has made it clear that the National Framework for Water does not intend to centralise water management or to change the Centre-State relations in any way.
The NWFl final draft has also attempted to capture the major legal decisions on the issue of water by the Supreme Court. This is most timely and its adoption would help the nation and the States and Union Territories to manage comprehensively the water resources in an efficient and sustainable manner, Singh has assured.
However, before approving the NWFl, a State Government would thoroughly study the provisions of the National Framework for Water as the State Government would have to be doubly sure about the move of the Union Government, said a senior Odisha Government official.
While in the case of the Mahanadi dispute with the Chhattisgarh Government, the Union Ministry of Water Resources quietly sided with Chhattisgarh and in the case of the Pollavaram Multipurpose Project, the request of the Government of Odisha was ignored with the Centre supporting the move of the Andhra Pradesh Government.
With such bitter experiences of the Odisha Government, experts in the State are just not convinced over the move of the Union Government to put in place a National Framework on Water.
So, before passing any resolution in State Assembly, there would be an intense scrutiny of the NWFl, said a senior official of the State Government.