CM wants to give water mgmt Bill another shot

CHANDIGARH: Following the withdrawal of the Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Bill, 2018, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is learnt to have directed the Department of Water Resources to take up the issue again in the Cabinet meeting after consulting ministers.

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18

Following the withdrawal of the Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Bill, 2018, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is learnt to have directed the Department of Water Resources to take up the issue again in the Cabinet meeting after consulting ministers.

The Bill which focuses on setting up the Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority was withdrawn during the recently held winter session of Vidhan Sabha due to opposition by ministers, especially those representing urban areas.

If the authority is formed, all line departments supplying water will automatically come under the Water Resources Department for the purpose of fixing the water tariff.

“The tariff should not be kept in the ambit of the regulatory body that could take other corrective measures. This needs wider consensus as it will have political implications in urban and rural areas as recovering the defaulting amount and increasing the tariff is a sensitive issue,” said one of the ministers.

Already, water supply bills have not been paid by users to the Water Supply and Sanitation Department over the years. Similarly, users in civic bodies have not paid their water bill dues. The department in turn owes Rs 600 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation.

Food and Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said like the power regulatory commission, the proposed water tariff could be increased every year.

It has been pointed out that the government has kept the farming community out of the ambit of the proposed regulatory body despite the agriculture sector responsible for the 90 per cent of the water consumption.

A senior government functionary said with the depleting water table, there was an urgent need to check over-exploitation of ground water.

Tejdeep Singh, a senior scientist with the Central Ground Water Board, said, “The authority is a must as far as Punjab is concerned. But, regulation is needed, keeping in mind the economy of the particular sector.”