Adverse
Impacts of Irrigation Scam on Water Sector
Pradeep
Purandare1
The discourse on irrigation scam, so far, is mostly
limited to only two aspects, namely, politics & corruption. This note is an
attempt to highlight the adverse impacts of irrigation scam on water sector in
Maharashtra.
1.0 INTEGRATED STATE WATER PLAN
Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act,
2005 was enacted to create River Basin Agencies (RBAs), State Water Board
(SWB), State Water Council (SWC) & Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory
Authority (MWRRA). The Act gives powers to MWRRA vide Section 11(f) to sanction
projects only if they are in conformity with Integrated State Water Plan
(ISWP). The main objective of ISWP is to develop & manage water resources
in the State in systematic, systemic & river basin-wise manner.
CAG Report (No.3 of 2014) on Management of Irrigation
Projects in Maharashtra, however, revealed that MWRRA has accorded sanction to
189 projects in the period 2007-13 even in the absence of Integrated State
Water Plan. This serious & brazen violation of MWRRA Act, 2005 prompted me
to file a PIL with a prayer that the High Court may kindly issue following
directions to the Government of Maharashtra & MWRRA:
1. Present a time bound roadmap for
operationalizing River Basin Agencies, State Water
Board & State Water Council.
2. Prepare the Integrated State Water Plan
within three months.
3. Fix responsibility & take suitable
action on all the individuals who have been responsible for the inordinate
delay in operationalizing River Basin Agencies, State Water Board & State
Water Council and preparing the Integrated State Water Plan.
Honourable High
Court [Aurangabad bench of Bombay High
Court] took serious cognizance of the PIL [124/2014] & issued following
important orders of far reaching implications
1. State not to grant any Administrative Approval
in respect of any new project until finalisation of ISWP & without
observing the procedure prescribed under the Act (13 July 2015)
2. Administrative approval given by the State Government for the
irrigation projects during the years 2007 to 2013 is outside the scope of MWRRA
Act 2005. The State Government to conduct enquiry of these projects. (18 Dec 2015)
3. The State Government shall take steps forthwith for
implementation of the directives issued by the Hon. Chief Minister & the
President of the State Water Council on 19.11.2015
The Govt, therefore, appointed Panase Committee to
conduct the enquiry of 189 projects & Bakshi Committee to prepare Godavari
Integrated Water Plan and guidelines for preparation of such water plans for
Krishna, Tapi, Narmada & West Flowing Rivers. Panse Committee has
reportedly submitted its report to Govt on 11th Aug 2016. Since Panase
committee was constituted as per the court order, it is expected that Govt
should submit report of Panse Committee along with Action Take Report (ATR) to
the High Court and also make it available in public domain. This, however, has
not been done so far.
Report of Bakshi Committee has already been accepted
by the Govt. Finalization of Godavari Integrated Water Plan & guidelines
for other basins prepared by this committee helped overcome the legal impasse
& paved the way for preparing an Integrated State Water Plan.
It is with reference to the said PIL, MWRRA-one of the
respondents- filed an affidavit to explain why & how it was required to
grant clearances even in absence of ISWP. Following are the excerpts from the
affidavit.
An inter-departmental meeting was convened
on 25th April 2007 by Respondent No.3 (MWRRA) under the chairmanship of the Minister
for Water Resources to discuss issues relating to the duties & functions of
respondent No.3. I submit that as per the decisions reached in the said meeting
the Respondent No.3 was required to grant clearances to projects prior to
administrative approval as the ISWP was to take some time.
MWRRA has attached copy of the minutes of the said
meeting in the said affidavit. Para 3 & 8 of the Summary Record of the said
meeting on 25th April 2007 read as follows:
3. Secretary, MWRRA thereafter made a
presentation covering the duties & functions & activities of the
Authority. He brought out in the presentation that........action on clearances
of projects had not yet started as the ISWP together with required Action
Plans.....had not yet been prepared by RBAs for approval by the SWB /
SWC........The Authority has a special responsibility u/s 11(f) & 21(1) of
the Act for backlog areas & thus the imperatives of clearances of projects
& review of investment priorities by the Authorities flow from these two
provisions. Authority has prepared a technical manual for preparation
of ....(ISWP).....& has suggested to
WRD to assign the work of the Godawari basin plan, to begin with, to a
Consultancy Firm....
8. In conclusion the following directives
were given by the Hon’ble Minister for WR:
a.........
b. WRD will finalise Consultancy for
preparation of Godawari basin plan within a month
c. WRD will instruct its field officers to
start obtaining clearances from MWRRA prior to Administrative Approval as the
ISWP will take still more time
The
minutes of meeting clearly show that MWRRA was aware of the fact that “action
on clearances of projects cannot be started without ISWP”
Prima facie, it appears to be a matter of propriety
when MWRRA – a quasi-judicial Independent Regulatory Authority - convenes a
meeting of the Authority under the Chairmanship of Minister for Water Resources
& takes orders from him. It speaks volumes regarding MWRRA’s so called
independence. MWRRA through its affidavit has virtually admitted that it did
succumb to the political pressure, did compromise with its legal duty & did
violate a law to which it owes its very existence.
Facts given below throw light on the role of the then
Minister of Water Resources Department in the present matter
L.C. Bill No.XIX of 2003- The Maharashtra Water
Resources Regulatory Bill, 2003 was referred to the Joint Committee of both the
houses on 19th Dec 2003.The then Hon Minister for Water Resources was the
Chairman of the said committee from 31st Dec 2004 onwards. The Joint Committee
approved the draft bill with some amendments on 30th Mar 2005. The said Bill
was then duly transformed into MWRRA Act 2005. The point is that the credit of
provisions related to ISWP goes, in a way, directly to the then Minister for
Water Resources. It was his legal & moral duty to implement the MWRRA
Act,2005 in letter & spirit. Such a
Minister, according to MWRRA’s affidavit, gave the directives which virtually
mean a green signal to go ahead with project clearances without ISWP. If the
Hon Minister, who was also the Deputy CM & considered to be a political
heavy weight, had ordered to prepare the ISWP, things would have changed
dramatically. But that was not to be.
2.0 HIGH POWER COMMITTEE’S HIGHHANDEDNESS
Sectoral allocation was a part of powers, functions
& duties of MWRRA as per section 11 of MWRRA Act, 2005. But High Power
Committee (HPC) illegally continued to take decisions regarding sectoral
allocation even after the MWRRA Act came in force. This happened from 2005 to
2011. Prayas, a NGO from Pune brought out the details in its study. As much as
1983 MCM water was diverted from irrigation to non-irrigation depriving
irrigation to 3 Lakh ha area. MWRRA did not take any objection. Amendment done
in 2011 formally withdrew MWRRA’s powers of sectoral allocation & gave the
same to the govt. The amendment legalised all the decisions of HPC with retrospective effect. That’s not
all. There is a specific provision in the amended Act according to which the
said diversion of water cannot be questioned in court of law.
3.0 INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE:
Economic survey presented to Maharashtra’s legislature
on the eve of budget session has been consistent in reporting that information
regarding irrigation is not available.
Though it is technically possible to measure the water used & area
irrigated, the scam-prone Water
Resources Department, has neither the will to measure nor it is competent
enough to do it professionally. But it has the courage to publish Water Audit,
Benchmarking & Irrigation Status Reports with figures up to second decimal!
WRD simply stopped publishing the said reports when I took the objection in
2011. Credibility of the irrigation
statistics is thus not an issue in today’s Maharashtra as there is no statistics
in the first place. This situation is best suited for irrigation scam.
4.0 Mockery of equitable distribution of
water
Irrigation scam further increased the corruption in
water management, destroyed the canals & distribution network, lowered the
water use efficiency & made mockery of equitable distribution of water.
5.0 No hydrologists in WRD
Hydrology is the backbone of water management. But
there are no hydrologists in WRD. Anybody posted in Hydrology Project Office
becomes a hydrologist overnight & considered competent enough to issue
water availability certificates. Earlier, Hydrology Project used to issue water
availability certificates in a centralised & comprehensive manner which was
a better way of keeping track of the process.
But WRD empowered regional chief engineers to do this job in a
decentralized manner & made the things easier for irrigation scam. The end
result is - number of dams with inadequate water increased.
6.0 Irrigation Scam utilized only for
political purpose
Action against irrigation
scam means implementation of Water Laws & Rules, adherence to Standard
Operating Procedures of water management, perseverance of sanctity of the
Institutions and completion of Irrigation Sector Reforms at the earliest in the
right earnest. Instead of doing this, irrigation scam is being utilised only
for political purposes which will only
further promote the irrigation scam.
[1] Former Associate Professor, WALMI,
Aurangabad,
Former Expert - Member, Marathwada (Statutory)
Development Board;
Former Expert –Member, Committee for Integrated State
Water Plan;
Presently Member, Flood Study Committee
Mobile 9822565232/ 8600849987
