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Water To Be Shifted To Concurrent ListBy ugesh sarkar, Section News
With some states, including Punjab, acting difficult with the Centre on the “Model Bill to Regulate and Control the Development of Groundwater”, aimed at conserving groundwater, the government is now working out a way to ensure parallel control over groundwater that is in a critical state in several parts of the country.
Sources say the Ministry of Water Resources is working on a Bill to transfer water from the state list to the concurrent list so that it has more say in how groundwater is utilised by the states. “Since water is a state subject, the Centre has no control over groundwater. Till water is shifted to the concurrent list, the states will continue to use it as they want,” they say. While it may be a long process via the Planning Commission, the Cabinet and finally the Parliament, however, when shifted to concurrent list, the Centre will have more than 60 per cent say in decisions related to groundwater. The fact is Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan are overusing their groundwater reserves, making them the most overexploited states in the country. After he took over as the Minister of Water Resources, Pawan Bansal also said over-exploitation of groundwater and its depleting levels in Punjab and Haryana was a matter of concern. Bansal said over-exploitation of groundwater, causing lowering of groundwater table and deterioration of water quality in some areas primarily due to unsustainable development required serious and immediate action. Source: The Tribune By Vibha Sharma Water to be shifted to concurrent list Click On "Full Story" For More...
The MoWR had drafted the 'Model Bill to Regulate and Control the Development of Groundwater' and circulated it to the states in 1970. The Bill was re-circulated in 1992, 1996 and 2005 to the states to enable them to enact suitable legislation on the lines of model Bill. A majority of the states agreed to the Bill that proposes setting up of a groundwater authority, having powers to enter any government or private property and survey wells and groundwater resources. Punjab, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland rejected the model Bill. Punjab is understood to have said the Bill was too harsh on users and was not in larger interest of farmers.
Assessments of groundwater resources carried out by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and the states have repeatedly shown alarming results. A majority of replenishable groundwater resource assessment units falling under the overexploited category are located in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. After Delhi, Punjab happens to the most overexploited state in the country as far as groundwater resources go with 75 per cent of its blocks assessed falling under the overexploited zone, followed by Rajasthan and Haryana. Delhi with a majority of its nine districts classified under the overexploited category tops the dubious list. In fact out of the 5723 units in the country, as many as 839 are categorised as over-exploited and are located largely in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharshtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttranchal and West Bengal. In overexploited blocks, a significant decline in long-term water-level trend is seen in either pre-monsoon or post-monsoon period, or both. In critical blocks, there is significant decline in long-term water level in both pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period.
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