The Steering Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation for Twelfth Five Year Plan (20122017)
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Report of The Steering Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation for Twelfth Five Year Plan (20122017) Government of India Planning Commission New Delhi January, 2012 CONTENTS Chapter Page Overview 1. Major and Medium Irrigation and Command Area 1 Development 2. Sustainable Groundwater Management 9 3. Minor Irrigation and Watershed Management 26 4. Rural Domestic Water and Sanitation 37 5. Water Database Development and Management 50 6. Urban and Industrial Water Supply and Sanitation 63 7. Flood Management and Region-Specific Issues 90 8. Water Governance 101 Annexure 1(A) Minutes of First meeting of the Steering Committee on 119 Water Resources and Sanitation for the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan held on 25.11.2010 1(B) Minutes of Second meeting of the Steering Committee on 127 Water Resources and Sanitation for the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan held on 27.09.2011 1(C) Minutes of Third meeting of the Steering Committee on 137 Water Resources and Sanitation for the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan held on 20.10.2011 1(D) Minutes of Fourth meeting of the Steering Committee on 143 Water Resources and Sanitation for the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan held on 15.11.2011 2 Draft Model Bill for The Conservation, Protection and 154 Regulation of Groundwater 3 Draft National Water Framework Bill 190 4 Draft Model Bill for State Water Regulatory System 207 1 REPORT OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES AND SANITATION FOR THE TWELFTH FIVE YEAR PLAN OVERVIEW The Planning Commission had set up one Steering Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation and the following eight Working Groups for addressing the issues related to the Water Resources and Sanitation for the formulation of the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017). During the first meeting of the Steering Committee, the Terms of Reference and issues to be addressed by the eight Working Groups were discussed. 1. Working Group on Major and Medium Irrigation and Command Area Development 2. Working Group on Sustainable Groundwater Management 3. Working Group on Minor Irrigation and Watershed Management 4. Working Group on Flood Management and Region-Specific Issues 5. Working Group on Water Database Development and Management 6. Working Group on Urban and Industrial Water Supply and Sanitation 7. Working Group on Rural Domestic Water and Sanitation 8. Working Group on Water Governance The composition and terms of reference of the Steering Committee are as under: Composition: 1. Dr. Mihir Shah, Member (Water Resources), Planning Commission Chairperson 2. Prof. A. Vaidyanathan, Former Member, Planning Commission Member 3. Shri Ramaswamy R. Iyer, Former Secretary, Ministry of Water Member Resources & Hon. Professor, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi 4. Dr. Tushaar Shah, Senior Fellow, IWMI, India Member 5. Shri Deep Joshi, Co-founder, PRADAN and Member, National Member Advisory Council, New Delhi 6. Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, ACWADAM, Pune Member 7. Ms. Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science and Environment, New Member Delhi 8. Dr. Nirmal Sengupta, Retd. Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Member Development Research, Mumbai 9. Shri Joe Mediath, Executive Director, Gram Vikas, Berhampur, Orissa Member i 10. Shri Dhruv Vijay Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Member Government of India, New Delhi 11. Shri Prabeer Kumar Basu, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Member Government of India, New Delhi 12. Smt. Vilasini Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Member Sanitation, Government of India, New Delhi 13. Ms. Anita Chaudhary, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Member Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, New Delhi 14. Dr. Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Member Government of India, New Delhi 15. Shri R.C. Jha, Chairman, Central Water Commission, New Delhi Member 16. Dr. S.C. Dhiman, Chairman, Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Member Water Resources, Faridabad 17. Prof. S.P. Gautam, Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry Member of Environment and Forests, New Delhi 18. Shri M.S. Agrawal, Adviser (Water Resources), Planning Commission, Member New Delhi Secretary Terms of Reference: • To Guide the functioning of eight Working Groups set up by the Planning Commission on: 1. Sustainable Groundwater Management 2. Major & Medium Irrigation and Command Area Development 3. Rural Domestic Water and Sanitation 4. Urban and Industrial Water Supply and Sanitation 5. Flood Management and Region-specific Issues 6. Water Database Development and Management 7. Minor Irrigation and Watershed Management 8. Water Governance • On the basis of Working Group Reports, provide a clear guidance to the formulation of strategies, priorities and allocations for Water and Sanitation in the 12th Plan that enables o legal, institutional and regulatory reform to improve governance o Going beyond the silo-based approach that has characterized the water sector thus far o plans that reflect the unity and integrity of the hydrologic cycle o greater emphasis on better utilization of existing water infrastructure and resources ii o reduced dependence on fresh water through greater water use efficiency, recourse to recycling, improved utilisation of existing capacities etc o greater emphasis on demand management o greater and more informed stakeholder participation • Any other issue considered relevant by the group Four meetings of the Steering Committee were convened on 25.11.2010, 27.9.2011, 20.10.2011 and 15.11.2011 respectively. The Minutes of these meetings are given at Annexure 1(A) to 1(D). This report is based on the findings and recommendations of the eight Working Groups. As we move into the 12th Plan period, Indian economy and society face daunting challenges in the water sector. With traditional supply augmentation options running the course, the time for complacency is long over. The demands of a rapidly industrialising economy and urbanizing society come at a time when water tables are falling and water quality issues have increasingly come to the fore. As we drill deeper for water, our groundwater gets contaminated with fluoride and arsenic. Open defecation by around 600 million people is our biggest national shame. Since drinking water and sanitation continue to be treated in separate silos, both the quality of drinking water and that of sanitation gets compromised. In urban areas, this makes a large difference to the cost of provisioning clean water to users. As untreated effluents and sewage continue to be dumped into our rivers, they get increasingly polluted. Intensity of floods is reportedly increasing in recent years. Climate change poses fresh challenges with its impacts on the hydrologic cycle. It is no wonder then that conflicts across competing uses and users of water are growing by the day. Meanwhile, water use efficiency in agriculture, which consumes around 80% of our water resources, continues to be among the lowest in the world. This is why the 12th Five Year Plan requires a paradigm shift in the management of water resources in India. This shift comprises the following elements: • A move away from a narrowly engineering-construction-centric approach to a more multi-disciplinary, participatory management approach to our major and medium irrigation projects in order to a. narrow growing gap between irrigation capacities created and those utilised b. overcome neglect of command area development in our irrigation projects c. move towards transparent, participatory mechanisms of pricing of water by primary stakeholders themselves d. promote use of water-saving techniques of farming e. improve water-use efficiency in irrigation • Map the aquifers of India, separate the electricity feeders for agriculture from those for other uses and promote a participatory management of groundwater resources by stakeholders themselves in order to a. impart greater sustainability and equity in the use of groundwater iii b. break down silos between drinking water and irrigation c. arrest the alarming decline in water tables d. effectively address issues of groundwater quality e. move towards transparent, participatory mechanisms of pricing of water by the primary stakeholders themselves f. move towards cropping patterns better aligned with the natural resource endowments of each region, with a focus on aquifers as the fundamental base for planning and management of groundwater. • A massive programme for watershed development and groundwater recharge by a. reforms in MGNREGA to transform it into our largest watershed and productivity enhancing programme b. giving renewed energy to the reformed Integrated Watershed Management Programme launched in the 11th Five Year Plan c. launching a completely revamped programme on Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies • Major reform in drinking water and sanitation programmes by a. creating a single rural drinking water and sanitation programme b. moving towards piped water supply in rural areas c. incentivising States to hand over operation and management of rural drinking water supply systems to PRIs d. targeting habitations rather than households in rural sanitation e. zeroing in on households rather than merely habitations in drinking water coverage f. placing central emphasis on resource sustainability g. adopting a community-led approach to both rural drinking water and sanitation to ensure participatory and transparent systems of pricing and better operation and maintenance h. all urban water supply