'Raj govt committed towards addressing water scarcity'

Rajasthan government today assured it was committed towards addressing the water scarcity problem and that effective implementation of the state water policy was one of the areas it was focusing on.
Addressing the inaugural session of one-day state level workshop on 'Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) -- A Solution to Water Scarcity Problem in Rajasthan', Additional Chief Secretary, Infrastructure C S Rajan today said it had taken 11 years for the water policy to be prepared (1999 to 2010).
Consequently, all the issues relating to water have been outlined and the state has perhaps the best water policy vis-a-vis other states, he said.

Its implementation has, however, been slow and a small part of the scheme has become functional, he said, adding, for the effective implementation of the policy, it was of utmost importance to get to know the first hand problems at the field level.
It is only when the problems and obstacles being faced at the grassroot level are eradicated that the policy will be implemented effectively and in totality, Rajan said.
He assured that the government was committed towards addressing the water scarcity problem.

Rajan also suggested that ways should be found out to pipe the water from rivers like Chambal and Mahi to the far flung villages facing scarcity of water.

Chief Engineer of the State Water Resources Planning Department Pradeep Mathur outlined the State Water Policy 2010 and critical issues related to water sector.
He pointed out the gravity of the growing imbalance between demand and supply of water.
The Additional Chief Secretary also recommended that the water management should increasingly shift from engineering based to local community based, rationalisation of water tariff, use of PPP mode, review of water laws, water audit, among others.