Government
of India released the water policy and water governance framework.
Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 states, “Under the Indian
Constitution water is primarily a State subject, but it is an increasingly
important national concern in the context of: (a) the right to water being a
fundamental right; (b) the emergence of a water crisis because of the mounting
pressure on finite resources; (c) the inter-use, intra-State and inter-State
conflicts that this is leading to, and the need for a national consensus on
water-sharing principles, and on the arrangements for minimising conflicts and
settling them quickly without resort to adjudication to the extent possible;
(d) the threat to this vital resource by the massive generation of waste by
various uses of water and the severe pollution and contamination caused by it;
(e) the long-term environmental, ecological and social implications of efforts
to augment the availability of water for human use; (f) the equity of
distribution based on types of use and users, area specific issues, different
economic sectors, location of countries or states, i.e. upstream or downstream,
that share river water; and particularly to safeguard future generations
against water crisis; (g) the international dimension of some of India’s
rivers; and (h) the emerging concerns about the impact of climate change on
water and the need for appropriate responses at local, national, regional, and
global levels.” The salient features of Indian water framework and governance
is shown in Table 3.
Table
3 Salient features of water governance in India
Elements
|
Key features
|
Management framework
|
Governance regime
|
Democracy, federal structure
|
Participative leadership
|
Administrative rule
|
Decentralization
|
Domination by district and provincial administrations.
|
Decision-making process
|
Bottom up in general.
|
All decisions are made based on aspiration and active participation of
stakeholders. In case of large river basins and international basins,
decisions are taken by high power committees with representatives from state
government and other stakeholders.
|
Budgetary system
|
Water users sharing participation
|
A part of the financial sources comes from water users and the rest from
government budget.
|
Role of water in regional development
|
Limiting factor
|
Priority on water balance consideration, especially in water poorer
states and regions.
|
Management responsibility
|
River basin and regional authority
|
Equitable distribution of water and prioritisation for domestic
consumption.
|
Role of government in construction of infrastructure
|
Enabler
|
Capacity building for strengthening government administration, user
community and other stakeholders.
|
Project setting
|
Integrated approach
|
Environmental sustainability interests basis
|
Project interest
|
People aspiration
|
To solve water-related problems in diverse geographical situations.
Location specific solutions are invited.
|
Project preparation
|
Based on master plan
|
Approved based on comprehensive study.
|
India’s
water policy is not only guided by a drive to mitigate water crisis but also by
integrated water resource management (IWRM) and sustainable development goals
of the United Nations. IWRM
is a “cross-sectoral policy approach” (Global
Water Partnership, 2010) and calls for an
ecosystem based approach in water management.
