by Punjabnewswire4u
NEW DELHI, DEC 28
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that any revision in the
national water policy should be based on the existing constitutional provisions
and well recognised/ universally accepted riparian principles.
Participating
in the deliberations in the 6th meeting of the National Water resources council
chaired by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh here at Vigyan Bhawan, the
Chief Minister categorically said that, 'Water' was a State subject under
Constitution and States have exclusive power of legislation on the subject. He
said that the distribution of powers under the federal structure of our
Constitution should in no case be tinkered with by making changes in frame work
of existing laws adding that each state has its own consideration in planning,
management and use of its water resources which vary from region to region and
state to state. Mr Badal also underlined that the distribution of water
resources should be and must be based on universally accepted Riparian
Principles and the existing usage and future needs of water of a riparian state
must be protected as otherwise it would directly affect the growth of the State
. The Chief Minister said that inter- basin transfer of water based on equity
and social justice would be in conflict with exclusive rights of people living
in basin areas therefore Inter-basin transfer of water should not be resorted
to.
The
Chief Minister emphasised that water was a very critical subject, having strong
economic, emotional and political implications adding that many of the tragic
conflicts in the country were the result of a mishandling of this sensitive
issue. He said that a major part of the Punjab tragedy for which the entire country
had to pay a huge and painful price for Centre’s
refusal to address the river waters issue along the just and internationally
and nationally accepted Riparian Principle. Without mincing any words Mr Badal
said, “This is one of the many areas where our decision makers in New Delhi
must show greater sensitivity, statesmanship and farsightedness in handling
critical issues such as Water.”
Expressing
strong reservations over the establishment of a water tariff system, fixation
of the criteria for water charges, statutory empowerment of water users
Associations, pricing of electricity and establishment of a Water Regulatory
Authority under the draft National Water Policy- 2012, the Chief Minister
vehemently opposed these matters and said that these should be left to the
states for taking appropriate decision. Mr Badal asserted that Punjab being an
agrarian state was opposed to the concept of integrated planning and management
of river basins and setting up of basin authorities by legislation. He said
that the interest of farming community was the foremost and could not be
ignored for any proposed change in the framework of existing laws for
controlling over-exploitation of ground water resources adding he said that any
action for improving the ground water situation by adopting rain water
harvesting, diversification of crops etc should be preferred over any coercive
measures for regulating ground water.
The
Chief Minister said, “Without prejudice to our consistent stand on riparian
rights, Principles of equitable distribution of water should be well defined.”
He unequivocally stated that Contribution made by each basin state to the
catchment area of a river should be the main criteria for apportionment
of water. Citing the Irrigation Commission Report 1972 which observed that the
drainage area of Punjab in the Indus basin is 3 times that of Rajasthan & 5
times that of Haryana, Mr Badal rued that yet Punjab was allocated only about
25% share in Ravi-Beas waters whereas Rajasthan and Haryana were allocated about
50% and 22% respectively.
Objecting
strongly to the draft national water policy-2012 concerning legislation for
water development taking basin as a unit, water pricing and institutional
arrangements, the Chief Minister made it amply clear that water was a state
subject and the states alone were empowered to deal with the subject.
Apprehending direct infringement on the freedom of the states by way of
imposing any integrated water resources management for the basin as a whole or
sub-basin, Mr Badal said that such purported move would deprive the states from
their legitimate rights to plan, formulate and execute water supply schemes as
per their needs. Allaying fears Mr Badal said that any so called integrated
water management for the basin as a whole would lead to more conflicts amongst
the states.
Regarding
‘water pricing’, the Chief Minister said that Punjab was of the view that
allocation and pricing of water could not be based purely on economic
principles. Therefore he pleaded the establishment of water regulatory
authority and fixation of water tariff system should be solely left to the
states. Referring to the water users’ associations, Mr Badal said that these
associations have a useful role in minor irrigation only but their statutory
empowerment to collect, fix and retain any water charges should be decided by
the states. Responding to the issue of institutional arrangements for a
separate forum to deliberate upon issues relating to water as provided in the
draft policy, he said that there was no such need as Northern Zonal Council
already existed for this purpose.
Justifying
the rationale behind providing subsidized irrigation to the Punjab farmers, the
Chief Minister said all this was primarily done to compensate the farmers to
some extent keeping in view their enormous contribution over the years in
making India self-reliant in food production. He pointed out that the
price of agriculture produce of farmers was being fixed in an arbitrary manner
which has made the farmers’ produce unremunerated. Above all the pricing of all
the agricultural inputs was not under the control of farmers whereas sale
prices of agricultural produce have always been unremunerative. It was a known
fact that farming, all over the world, was being subsidized to enable the farmers
to achieve sustainability and survival, which was essential for ensuring
national food security.
Dwelling
on the scenario of agrarian economy of the state, the Chief Minister pointed
out that Punjab was a predominately Agricultural State and its agriculture was
highly intensive and dependent on heavy requirement of water therefore, water
was the life line of the Punjab farmers and the economy of the state . He said
that hard work of farmers and its well organized and reliable Irrigation System
has enabled the state to play a vital role in increasing agricultural
production thereby making major contribution (over 50%) to the National Food
Pool. However Mr Badal bemoaned that the water resources of the state compared
to its requirement were grossly inadequate and the allocated surface water
resources were being fully utilized but these do not fully meet the demand of
agricultural sector thereby causing a great strain on ground water resources
which were being over-exploited resulting in depletion of underground water
resources of the state.
Reiterating
his stand to revise the National Water Policy within the ambit of
constitutional provisions and already settled Riparian principles, the Chief
Minister again appealed the Centre that since the Water issue was a State
subject so it must be left to the states to manage.
The
Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon,
Principal Secretary Irrigation Mr KBS Sidhu and Principal Secretary to Chief
Minister Mr SK Sandhu.
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