National Water Framework Bill 2016: Dr. Mihir Shah formed a committee that drafted the legislation, National Water Framework Bill in 2016. The Committee was formed by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation. The main objective of the legislation was to monitor, safeguard, conserve, and control the use of water in India. The Indian Constitution designates water as a state subject, which indicates that the state has to intervene and decide on laws related to water.
The Draft National Water Framework Bill (NWF), 2016 was released on May 16 by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation. The Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 serves as an overall national legislative framework that contains principles for the conservation, management, regulation, and protection of water. Water is considered a scarce and essential natural resource, which is addressed by the Draft National Water Framework Bill. The public was also encouraged by the Ministry to provide feedback and recommendations on the draft framework. The Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 was sent to the states as a model measure to replace the 2013 draft framework on water. The new proposed legal framework on water guarantees everyone the right to a minimum quantity of “safe water,” while also requiring the state to “protect” and save water.
‘Water’ is a state subject in the 7th schedule. The concept of a National Water Framework Law is not a new phenomenon. The Planning Commission primarily originated this idea as a part of the documentation for the 12th five-year plan. However, the government did not adopt the suggested bill of the Planning Commission. The YK Alagh Committee was set up later to create a draft of such a framework law related to water, catering for all water-related issues. Still, there was no substantial progress on the subject of water. There was much political suppression and conflicting opinions from the chief ministers of various states about avoiding the centralization of water by the government.
The Indian constitution was written before the water shortage became a major concern and crisis. With the exception of interstate rivers, water was retained on the state list. Water-related cases have been brought before the courts on occasion, where the court has established the right to water as a fundamental right under Article 21 Right to Life. In Chameli Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court said that the right to live guaranteed as a basic human right encompasses the right to food, water, a decent environment, education, medical care, and shelter. The need for a streamlined national framework law over water arose due to a lack of judicial recognition of the right to water, a lack of measures to conserve water, inter-state water conflicts, pollution, and long-term ecological and social implications for the usage of water.
There are a number of concerns reflecting the imperative need for the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016:
The purposes of proposing the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 are:
The bill has been designed to address a variety of issues, covering multiple areas of concern. This article provides a detailed overview of some of the salient features of this bill. The 12 most significant features of the National Water Framework Bill, 2016 are as the following:
No. | Significant Features of the National Water Framework Bill, 2016 |
1 | Right to Water for Life- · Each individual is entitled to an adequate amount of safe water. · Every agency responsible for providing drinking water must adhere to the Manual of the Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation. |
2 | Revitalisation of Rivers- · Aviral Dhara – This involves maintaining the flow connectivity in each river system. · Nirmal Dhara – This ensures that the quality of rivers remains unaffected by human activities. · Swachh Kinara – This involves efforts to keep riverbanks clean and aesthetically pleasing. · Reviving aquifers, which are a crucial source of rivers. |
3 | Protection of Ecosystems Dependent on Water- · Rivers are to be protected from construction activities on their floodplains. · Rivers should be safeguarded from sand mining. |
4 | People-Centred Water Management- · The bill emphasises water conservation activities by people, which include Rainwater harvesting techniques, Watershed development and Participatory irrigation management. |
5 | Correlation between Water Use and Land Use- · The bill stresses on appropriate land use in suitable regions. · It advocates for sustainable agricultural practices for optimal use of water. |
6 | Treatment and Utilisation of Wastewater- Treatment and Utilisation of Wastewater |
7 | Integrated River Basin Development and Management-
· The river basin authority will focus on social, economic development, land use, rural, and urban development. |
8 | Project Planning and Management- Panchayats, Municipalities, Corporations will be involved in the planning and management of projects. |
9 | Planning for Water Security-
· Water Security plans will be in place for 5 years and will be amended or revised after every 5 years. |
10 | Water Resource Information System-
|
11 | Promotion of Innovation and Knowledge Management- The government will promote research in technology to address the issues in the water sector. |
12 | Water Conflicts – Interstate Water disputes – Institutional arrangements will be established to resolve inter-state water disputes. |
Initially, the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was prepared by the Government of India and released by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 30th June 2008. The NAPCC announced the principles and approaches to combat the challenges of the impact of climate change through various National Missions namely the National Solar Mission, the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat and the National Water Mission.
The National Water Mission was proposed to serve the following goals:
The National Water Mission also known as Jal Jeevan Mission was then launched in 2011. The areas of concern for the country were the per capita availability of water reducing every year, reducing groundwater tables, prolonged droughts, and floods due to excess rains; water conservation and storage. The primary purposes of the National Water Mission were to conserve water, minimize wastage and manage water resources in such a way that there is an equal distribution of water across the nation.
The National Water Policy (2012) determined the need to develop a National Water Framework Law as a comprehensive legislation of general principles governing the exercise of legislative/executive powers by the Centre, the States and the local governing bodies. The objective of the National Water Policy, 2012 is to assess the existing situation and to propose a framework for a plan of action with a unified national perspective. In 2012, the Ministry of Water Resources formulated the Draft National Water Policy in consultation with the National Water Board and National Water Resource Council. The 2012 water policy introduced the pricing mechanism for the overuse of water.
The objectives of the National Water Policy (2012) are as follows:
The approach to water resources planning for the National Water Policy of 1987 and 2002 was on the national level, whereas the 2012 policy is from an integrated perspective considering local regional, state and national levels. The policies of 1987 and 2002 were mostly on the same lines.
In the water frameworks of 1987 and 2002, there was a standardised national information system. In the 2012 policy, the focus is that all water-related data should be integrated with well-defined procedures and formats to ensure online updating and transfer of data to facilitate the development of the database for informed decision-making in the management of water.
The 1987 and 2002 water policy discusses the establishment of appropriate organisations for the planned development and management of a river basin as a whole. However, the policy of 2012 envisages that there is a need for comprehensive legislation for the optimum development of Interstate River and river valleys and to enable the establishment of basin authorities with appropriate powers to plan, manage and regulate the utilisation of water resources in the basins.
The 1987 and 2002 water policy discusses the hydrological unit such as a drainage basin as a whole or a sub-basin while the 2012 policy laid down that Integrated Water Resources Management taking river basin / sub-basin as a unit, should be the main principle for planning, development and management of water resources.
The 1987 and 2002 water policy discusses that the water resource development projects should as far as possible be planned and developed as multipurpose projects while the 2012 policy laid down that all water resources projects, including hydropower projects, should be planned to the extent feasible as multi-purpose projects with provision of storage to derive maximum benefit from available topology and water resources.
The committee that drafted the National Water Framework Bill 2016 was headed by Dr Mihir Shah.
The main objective of the National Water Framework Bill 2016 is to conserve, manage, protect and regulate the use of water.
There have been three water policies framed and adopted by the Indian Government so far the National Water Policy of 1987, 2002 and 2012.
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