Chandigarh October 16: The Haryana Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal here today accorded approval for draft of Haryana Water Resources Conservation, Management and Regulation) Authority Bill, 2020 for Conservation, management and regulation of water resources in Haryana until now, the ground water was being regulated under the guidelines issued by the Central Ground Water Authority, however entry 17 in the list II of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India inter alia provides that water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power are the state subjects, hence this Bill has been introduced.
The Bill has been prepared with the aim to establish an Authority for conservation, management and regulation of the water resources in the State including surface water, ground water and treated waste water of Haryana which shall exercise its jurisdiction over the entire State.
The uncontrolled and rapid usage of water, in absence of any effective law in the State has resulted in alarming situation of declining ground water levels along with depletion of surface water in several areas. In order to deal with the situation of serious water crisis and over exploitation of water in the offing, it is an impending necessity to enact an appropriate law to provide for protecting, conserving, controlling and regularizing the usage of water in the State so that the water regimen becomes sustainable both quantitatively and qualitatively, especially in stressed areas.
The Authority will be constituted and would consist of five member including Chairman to be appointed by the Selection Committee constituted under Section 5 of the draft Bill.
The Bill further provides for the term of 3 years for Chairman and Members of the Authority, Further, the Authority shall have its own staff to be appointed under Section 8 of the Draft Bill. Powers and functions ubje of the Authority have been provided under Section 12. Further, the Authority shall have the jurisdiction to grant permissions to Br use and extract water which has been provided under Section 16 and also determine tariff of surface and treated waste water with the approval of Government.
The Authority would also have the powers of the Civil Court and non-compliance of the orders or directions of the Authority shall be punishable under Section 22. The Bill also provides for the penalty for the unauthorized acts under Section 25 along with the compounding of the unauthorized acts under Section 26.
The Bill gives powers to the Government to make rules on certain provisions and also gives powers to the authority to make regulations under Section 30 and 31 respectively. The Authority will also prepare its annual report and the fund of the Authority shallie subject to the Audit by the Accountant General, Haryana.
Under Section 3(4) the Authority will consist of Chairperson and four members to be appointed by the selection committee which shall recommend the suitable candidate as per qualification.
The selection committee will be constituted under Section 5 consisting Chief Secretary, Haryana as Chairperson and consist of Administrative Secretary to Government, Haryana, Irrigation and Water Resources Department as Member-Secretary and two other members having knowledge in the fields of science, technology or engineering matters concerned with water resources or management of water resources.
The Main functions and powers of the Authority will be to prepare an Integrated State Water Plan every three years based on water plans prepared for every district. The Authority will prepare and get approved a framework from the Government, for granting permissions under Section 16 or to achieve any other purposes of this Act. A large number of industries were facing the challenge of obtaining permission from Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) for a long period even for continuation of existing ground water extraction duly permitted and therefore NGT had imposed fines and penalties on such industries. The Bill will also help expedite permissions in such cases.
The Authority will issue direction inter alia for sustainable operation and maintenance of the water infrastructure and water delivery systems within the State, optimum utilization of the irrigation potential created in the State, to reduce and prevent pollution and degradation of water resources, facilitating the implementation of the Water Security Plan, increasing water efficiency agriculture and other sectors.
The Authority will make recommendations to the Government for the establishment system of enforcement. The Authority will summit the state ground water and surface water plan to the government for consideration and approval.