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POLITY
Water Governance
Context:
In the recent time Inter- state water disputes are rising which needs political solution within the framework of cooperative federalism
Probable Question
“The Inter-State River Water Disputes are one of the most contiguous issues in Indian federalism today”, Comment. Also Analyse if it’s time for a new mechanism rather than tribunals
Challenges in Water Governance
▪ Federal Issue: Water governance in India is perceived and practised as the states’ exclusive domain. However, their powers are subject to those of the Union under Entry 56 about inter-state river water governance.
o Combined with the states’ dominant executive power, these conditions create challenges for federal water governance.
o Further, the River Boards Act 1956 legislated under Entry 56. However, till this date, no river board was ever created under the law.
▪ Water Knows No political Boundaries: Owing to different jurisdiction and control of states, the interconnectedness of surface and groundwater systems resulted in fragmented surface and groundwater policies.
o Also, due to this, data availability in India is currently fragmented, scattered across multiple agencies, and inadequate for sound decision-making.
o Moreover, data gaps exist on the interconnectivity of rainwater, surface water, and groundwater, land use, environmental flows, ecosystems, socio-economic parameters, and demographics at the watershed level.
Need For Cooperative Federalism
▪ Looming Water Crisis: A NITI Aayog report held that 21 major cities are expected to run out of groundwater as soon as 2020 which may affect nearly 100 million people.
o Moreover, the 2030 Water Resources Group projects a 50% gap between water demand and water supply in India by 2030.
o Therefore, in order to address the over-abstraction and overuse of water in multiple geographies, there is a need for the concerted effort of centre and state governments.
▪ Pursuing National Projects: Greater centre-states coordination is also crucial for pursuing the current national projects like Ganga river rejuvenation or inland navigation or inter-basin transfers.
o Also, the latest centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), envisages achieving universal access to safe and secure drinking water in rural areas, which otherwise is a domain of the states.
Way Forward
▪ Centre-States Dialogue: The Centre can work with the states in building a credible institutional architecture for gathering data and producing knowledge about water resources.
o In this context, JJM presents an opportunity to get states on board for a dialogue towards stronger Centre-states coordination and federal water governance ecosystem.
o The dialogue can consider the long-recommended idea of distributing responsibilities and partnership-building between the Centre and states, like centre can build a credible institutional architecture for gathering data and states can improve the delivery of this essential service to its populations.
▪ Multi-Stakeholder Approach: In view of multiple stakeholders ( farmers, urban communities, industry and government) influencing and affected by water flows, and governance framework should strive to achieve joint decision-making.
o In this context, the establishment of stakeholder councils can help to a large extent.
▪ Implementing Mihir Shah Committee Recommendations: There is a need to carry out some essential reforms as recommended by Mihir Shah committee. For example,
o Merging Central Water Commission and the Central Ground Water Board into one National Water Commission which would cover both groundwater and surface water issues.
Conclusion:
Water governance is widely acknowledged as an important factor for sustainable development. Thus, a concerted effort of all stakeholders is required for resolving conflicts and developing a shared vision for the use of water resources to support economic growth, social development and environmental protection.