Suggestions regarding Water Management
Pradeep Purandare,
In view of Kelkar & Chitale Committee Reports the Budget 2016-17 may
try to reflect the long term Water Policy of Govt & spell out the roadmap
of Restructuring & Reforms in Water Sector considering following
suggestions
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Sr.No.
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Suggestions
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1
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Report
of The High Level Committee on Balanced Regional Development Issues in
Maharashtra, Oct 2013 (Kelkar Samitee)
Marathwada Development Board’s (MDB) comments
have duly been submitted to Hon Governor. Those may pl be considered.
Though the proposed scheme of regional
allocation for plan resources is welcome, Marathwada needs its due share of
water at the same time. Mere allocation of funds for water resources
development is meaningless if water itself is denied. Bitter experience of
Krishna-Marathwada project is a glaring example of “dry” development. After carrying out works of Rs 500 Crores,
now it is being told “sorry, there is no water !”
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2
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While
framing a policy of completing incomplete irrigation projects & making
plan allocations for new projects govt
would do well to take cognizance of
— Chitale Samitee’s
findings
— High Court’s orders in respect of PIL regarding Integrated State Water Plan
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3
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Report
of Special Investigation Committee on Irrigation Related Issues, Feb 2014
(Chitale Samitee):
It is imperative to take a review of
irrigation projects wherein following serious points have been noticed:
1.
Unprecedented cost & time overruns
2.
Doubtful hydrology & Water Availability
Certificates
3.
Arbitrary changes in the scope of projects
4.
Serious irregularities of all kinds
5.
Scant respect for fiscal discipline
6.
Gross violations of even basic engineering
principles
7.
By passing the prescribed procedures &
processes
Such an in-depth review would help decide
whether to go ahead with the controversial projects or not and avoid wasteful
expenditure. A process of elimination is urgently warranted to make the
liability of completing the incomplete projects manageable & to prepare a
time bound roadmap for completing the projects in drought prone areas on priority
basis. In this respect
Pl see Table1: किंमतवाढ: आभासी वि. वास्तविक
Table 2: विलंब झालेल्या प्रकल्पांची संख्या व कालावधी
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4
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PIL
(124/ 2014) regarding Integrated State Water Plan (ISWP):
Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court has
issued following orders:
Order dt. 13 July 2015:
(1)
About 189 projects have been cleared during
the period from 2007 to 2013 in the
absence of Integrated State Water Plan (ISWP)
(2)
MWRRA
& State Govt to place before the High Court the details in respect of
said sanctioned projects
(3)
Not
to grant any Administrative Approval in respect of any new project until
finalization of the ISWP as per MWRRA Act, 2005
Order dt,
18 Dec 2015:
(1)
Administrative
Approval given by the State Govt for the irrigation projects during the years
2007 to 2013 is outside the scope of MWRRA Act, 2005.
(2)
The
State Govt is expected
(a) to conduct enquiry in respect of
projects mentioned in the order & take appropriate decision thereafter,
(b) to investigate into the matters
concerning indiscriminate payment made to the contractors without ensuring
commissioning of the project work.
(3)
The State Govt shall place on record details
in respect of violation of Governor’s directives regarding backlog areas.
The legal implications of above orders are
obvious. As much as 189 projects have been declared as illegally sanctioned
& govt is not supposed to grant AA to any new irrigation project till the
preparation of ISWP. This is a difficult situation because on hand water
resources development is necessary to mitigate drought & on the other hand
govt cannot take up new projects. The only way out is to complete all
modalities in respect of ISWP on war footing & get the necessary
clearances well before the budget session.
Pl
see Table 3: Status of Projects cleared by MWRRA
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5
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PIL
(152/ 2014) regarding Rules of Maharashtra Irrigation Act, 1976 (MIA 76):
MIA 76 is a parent Act which provides
foundation & framework to the structure of water management in the State.
It is necessary to issue various notifications under this Act for legal
implementation. Those include river, command area, appointments of Canal
Officers & the jurisdiction of their offices, Co-Op Lift Irrigation
Schemes, compensation, etc. MIA 76 also provides for assessment &
recovery of water charges & penal provisions regarding unauthorised use
of water. However, the Rules of the Act have not been prepared even after
almost 40 years. In absence of Rules, the Act has hardly been effectively
used. Even the process of issuing notifications is incomplete.. All other
Acts (IDC, MWRRA & MMISF) assume that MIA 76 is in force & is being
implemented. This situation raises doubts about the vary locus standi of Water
Resources Dept (WRD), adversely affects implementation of all other water
laws & may eventually lead to unprecedented legal crisis in near future.
On this background, it is suggested that this
matter may be referred to Law & Judiciary Dept and Advocate General, get
official legal opinion & then take an appropriate decision regarding plan
allocations for WRD.
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6
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Restructuring
of MWRRA:
An Independent Regulatory Authority (IRA) is
essential in Water Sector. However, last 10 years’ experience regarding MWRRA
indicates that MWRRA Act needs to be amended & MWRRA is required to be
restructured. Following are the suggestions regarding autonomy of MWRRA:
(1) MWRRA
may be delinked from WRD from administrative point of view. It may have
direct linkage with State Water Board & State Water Council.
(2) Ways
& means may be identified to make MWRRA truly independent by elevating
its legal status & suitably empowering it.
(3) MWRRA
may be given some percentage of funds provided for in the State’s annual
budget for all water related departments taken together. Such funds may
specially be provided in the name of MWRRA directly & not through some
particular department
(4)
A corpus of substantial amount may specially be
created for MWRRA
(5)
MWRRA may have adequate technical & ministerial
staff considering its increased workload due to added responsibility of
aspects related to Ground Water
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7
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Water
Management, Governance & Regulation:
In
order to switch over from “administration to management” & say good bye
to “irrigation by accident”, it is very much necessary to have Water Management, Governance &
Regulation (WMGR) in the truest sense of the term. One of the pre-requisites
for WMGR is compatible infrastructure. Repairs, Restoration & Renovation
(RRR) of existing projects is thus important. Govt may initiate this year a
large scale program for this specific purpose. Implementation of this program
may be done starting with Minor Irrigation (Local Sector) projects followed
by State Sector Minor & Medium projects & then Major projects.
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8
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Eight
Monthly Irrigation:
In
order to distribute water equitably & substantially increase area under
irrigation, govt may re-introduce a scheme of 8 – Monthly Irrigation coupled
with RRR and a mandatory component of measurement of water & irrigated
area by modern methods.
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9
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Cropping
Pattern:
Large area under sugarcane, a water guzzler
crop, is one of the main hurdles in equitable distribution of water. Farmers
may gradually switch over to other less water requiring crops like pulses,
oil seeds, etc if the govt makes appropriate arrangements to purchase the
produce of these crops based on their MSP.
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10
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Watershed
Development:
Watershed Development delinked from EGS &
based on aquifer mapping with priority to soil conservation is a felt need of
the hour. Govt may introduce an independent scheme exclusively for watershed
development with following components
/ features
(1) Norm may be revised to Rs. 25000 / ha
as recommended by Kelkar Samitee & it may be linked with price index
(2) Third party Monitoring &
Evaluation
(3) Arrangements & funds for M & R
for at least 5 years period initially
(4) Fund to replace / re-execute the work
once its life is over. As per GR life of watershed works ranges from 5 to 23
years depending upon type of structure / treatment.
This may increase the cost initially but it would be
justified in long run if sedimentation of reservoirs gets reduced &
ground water table rises.
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11
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Domestic
Water Supply Schemes:
Domestic water supply, particularly in
Marathwada, has become a major problem. Local bodies are running away from
their constitutional responsibility of providing water to the citizens. And
vacuum so created is being utilised by tanker & bottled water lobbies.
This is a dangerous trend & needs to be checked immediately.
Privatization & PPP in domestic water supply schemes will create more
problems. Western countries after trying PPP, are now turning back to
muncipalitaztion of water supply.
Govt may issue a white paper regarding
bottled water supply in the State.
Budget may make provisions to strengthen
water supply schemes & institutions like MJP
Samantar Yojana in Aurangabad has become a
controversial issue due to PPP. Corporation has got Rs.200 Cr. If it gets
additional Rs.150 Cr from govt, corporation itself can implement the scheme.
Similarly, substantial provision is urgently
warranted for Latur water supply scheme.
Pl see 4: Non-Irrigation Supply from
Irrigation Projects
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Table – 1: किंमतवाढ: आभासी वि. वास्तविक
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तपशील
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रू.कोटी
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100 प्रकल्पांची मूळ
प्रशासकीय मान्यतेची किंमत
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8389
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सरासरी 25 वर्षानंतर
100 प्रकल्पांची अद्ययावत मंजूर सुधारित प्रशासकीय मान्यतेची किंमत
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68655
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आभासी किंमतवाढ
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60266
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भाववाढीचा घटक वजा केल्यावर
येणारी वास्तविक किंमतवाढ
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31714
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भाववाढ वगळता प्रकल्पांच्या
खर्चाचे आर्थिक दायित्व मूळ प्रशासकीय मान्यतेच्या किंमतीच्या तुलनेत (पटीत)
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3.8
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Table 2: विलंब झालेल्या प्रकल्पांची संख्या व कालावधी
(कालावधी कंसात)
(कालावधी कंसात)
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विलंबाचे कारण
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कृष्णा
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विदर्भ
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तापी
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कोकण
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गोदा.
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ए
कू
ण
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प्र.मा.मिळाल्यावर प्रथमत: अनुदान देणे
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17
(2-14)
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23
(2-11)
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8
(2-25)
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10
(2-26)
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10
(2-9)
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68
(2-26)
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प्रथम अनुदान मिळाल्यावर प्रत्यक्ष काम सुरू करायला विलंब
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12
(2-16)
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20
(2-15)
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11
(2-13)
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10
(2-19)
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9
(2- 16)
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62
(2-19)
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व्याप्ती बदल
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95
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Table
3: Status of Projects cleared by MWRRA
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Sr.No.
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Status of the project
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No. of projects
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%
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1
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Administrative
Approval not given by Govt even though project is cleared by MWRRA
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9
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2
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Projects cleared by
MWRRA but Administrative Approval cancelled by Govt
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5
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3
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Projects cleared by
MWRRA found to be infeasible projects by WRD
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5
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AA problems (1 to 3)
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19
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10
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4
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Work held up / not started
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19
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5
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No
environmental/forest clearance
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11
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6
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Projects not yet
started
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18
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Starting trouble (4 to 6)
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48
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25.4
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7
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Works completed
/handed over
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22
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11.6
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8
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Projects under
construction
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100
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53
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Total
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189
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100
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Table
4: Non-Irrigation Supply from Irrigation Projects
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Institutions
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No.
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Mcum
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Gram Panchayat
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2026
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561
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Municipalties/Nagar Parishads
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159
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530
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Municipal Corporations
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22
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3050
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MJP
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313
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520
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Private Industries
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325
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364
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MIDC
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75
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1146
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Sugar Factories
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134
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115
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MAHAGENCO (Thermal)
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13
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497
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Private Thermal (running)
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13
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497
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Private Thermal(Planned)
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64
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1455
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Agro-industries
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26
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45
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Others
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31
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155
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Total
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8450 (298TMC)
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