Since there are several issues regarding water- its judicious use, inter-state and trans-boundary disputes among other creating lot of policy and socio-economic implications. Water is state subject, therefore, center cannot make unilateral law (Obviously, states will oppose it). Center should go for national water framework law i.e.an overarching statement of general principles on water.
The Ministry of Water Resources set up a new committee to draft the law under the chairmanship of Dr. Y. K. Alagh.
Why National Law on Water?
A national law on water is very necessary, and it must be a framework law. Why is a national law on water necessary? There are several reasons.
(1) Under the Indian Constitution water is primarily a State subject, but it is an increasingly important national concern in the context of:
(a) the judicial recognition of the right to water as a part of the fundamental right to life;
(b) the general perception of an imminent water crisis, and the dire and urgent need to conserve this scarce and precious resource;
(c) the severe and intractable inter-use and inter-State conflicts;
(d) the pollution of rivers and other water sources, turning rivers into sewers or poison and contaminating aquifers;
(e) the long-term environmental, ecological and social implications of projects to augment the availability of water for human use;
(f) the equity implications of the distribution, use and control of water;
(g) the international dimensions 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.
It is clear that the above considerations cast several responsibilities on the Central government, apart from those of the State governments. Given these and other concerns, the need for an overarching national water law is self-evident.
(2) Several States are enacting laws on water and related issues. These can be quite divergent in their perceptions of and approaches to water. Some divergences from State to State may be inevitable and acceptable, but extreme and fundamental divergences will create a very muddled situation. A broad national consensus on certain basics seems very desirable.
(3) Different State governments tend to adopt different legal positions on their rights over the waters of a river basin that straddles more than one State. Such legal divergences tend to render the resolution of inter-State river-water conflicts extremely difficult. A national statement of the general legal position and principles that should govern such cases seems desirable.
(4) Water is one of the most basic requirements for life. If national laws are considered necessary on subjects such as the environment, forests, wildlife, biological diversity, etc., a national law on water is even more necessary. Water is as basic as (if not more basic than) those subjects.
(5) Finally, the idea of a national water law is not something unusual or unprecedented. Many countries in the world have national water laws or codes, and some of them (for instance, the South African National Water Act of 1998) are widely regarded as very enlightened. The considerations behind those national codes or laws are relevant to India as well, although the form of a water law for India will clearly have to be guided by the nature of the Indian Constitution and the specific needs and circumstances of this country.
A setback
This also explains why the Centre was unable to persuade the State governments to accept the idea of a national water framework law. The manner in which the Centre put forward that idea at the Water Resource Ministers’ Conference and the NDC must have given indications of the underlying desire to strengthen the hands of the Centre. In fact, though the Ministry uses the term ‘framework law’, what it has in mind is not really a framework law but a conventional operational one. This must have set the alarm bells ringing in the minds of the Chief Ministers.
As a result, the very idea of a national water framework law has become suspect in their eyes. Even if the Alagh Committee comes up with a draft of a genuine framework law with no elements of centralisation, it will now be an uphill task to persuade the States to accept it. This is a setback to an important initiative.