Maha demands planning of basins to deal with water shortages

Addressing the meeting of the National Water Resources Council, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said almost 80 per cent of Maharashtra was rainfed and the projected irrigation potential was not beyond 30 per cent of the total area.

"To overcome the natural handicaps in the availability of water, we are proposing the planning of basins/sub-basins on the basis of the average annual water availability--subject of course to limitations put in by the awards of the river water dispute tribunals," he said.

Chavan said it would be helpful if this requirement of water short basins could be covered by appropriate wording in the National Water Policy.

He supported the provisions in the policy to keep aside a portion of river flows to meet the ecological needs ensuring that the low and high flow releases are proportional to the natural flow regime, including base flow contribution in the low flow season through regulated ground water use.

Chavan also sought financial support for urban bodies and public institutions on recycling and reuse of water as also for installation of electronic meters in almost a crore urban households.

"The local bodies or the consumers may not be able to defray such costs on their own. Here again, we request the Government of India to consider an appropriate package to meet such new evolving needs," he said.

Chavan said additional cost of transporting water from distant sources for supply to semi-arid regions need to be supported so that local communities are not burdened.