Committee to examine provisions of draft water framework law

Government has formed a committee under ex-Planning Commission member Mihir Shah to examine provisions of draft National Water Framework Law and suggest modifications to the same, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Responding to queries on Government's proposal to introduce National Water Framework Bill and features of the same, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat said the panel was constituted on December 12 last year.
The bill proposes to establish a framework with governing principles for protection, conservation and regulation of waters and for matters connected therewith and incident thereto, Jat said.
"A committee under the chairmanship of Shah has been constituted on 28.12.2015 to examine the provisions of the draft National Water Framework Law and suggest changes/modifications therein taking into account inter-alia the emerging challenges in the water sector, reuse of waste water after treatment, the likely impact of climate change on water resources, importance of river restoration/rejuvenation, water contamination issues, etc," he said in a written reply.

The bill proposes to establish an umbrella statement of general principles governing exercise of legislative and/or executive (or devolved) powers by the Centre, states and local governing bodies.
The statement, the Minister said, should lead the way for essential legislation on water governance in every state of the Union and devolution of necessary authority to the lower tiers of government to deal with the local water situation.
"It proposes 18 basic principles for water management to bring different state legal interventions within a framework of governing principles and alignment of existing legislations both at the Central as well as state-level to conform to the principles and provisions of this bill," he said of the salient feature of the draft bill.