To study ways and means to regulate use of water in the State through conservation and management of the critical water resources, Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday constituted a sub-committee.
Comprising Cabinet Ministers Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukh Sarkaria and Razia Sultana, the sub-committee has been mandated to explore and suggest measures to tackle critical water situation in the state.
The issue was taken up for an informal discussion during the meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
The sub-committee members will visit Israel to study their water conservation model and examine the feasibility of its adoption in Punjab.
The Cabinet also entrusted the sub-committee with the task of examining various objections expressed by some of the ministers on the scope and functioning of the proposed Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority (PWRDA), which was mooted last month.
The government had later decided to withdraw the proposed legislation for the constitution of the Authority after reservations were expressed by some of the ministers with respect to its operations, particularly with reference to its powers to impose tariff.
Sangrur, Jalandhar, and Moga, tops the list with maximum over exploitation of ground water followed by Kapurthala, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Patiala, Ludhiana, Faridkot, Ferozpur, Mansa, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ropar and Nawanshahr.