Strict laws on anvil for inter-state water disputes: Jal

Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria on Friday said his ministry was working on formulating strict laws to address inter-state water disputes.

Addressing a press conference here, he said these laws would stipulate action against states which do not follow rules in connection with such water disputes.

"The government will introduce strict laws to address inter-state water disputes. Besides, there are no provisions in the laws prevalent from 1956 to address this kind of situation. We are going to formulate strict laws wherein those states which do not follow the rules will face action," he said.

Talking about development works, Kataria said the government plans to construct 1.11 crore rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge structures in urban and rural areas to harness 85 billion cubic metres of water over an area of 9 lakh square metres at a cost of Rs 79,178 crore.

Similarly, in the last three years, the NDA government has spent Rs 23,000 crore for completing more than 17 lakh water harvesting and conservation works, Kataria said.

"Our country receives an average rainfall of 1170 mm per year, which amounts to 4000 billion cubic metre of water. This includes rainwater and water from glaciers. However, we manage to collect around 427 billion cubic metre of water from these sources," he added.

The minister said there was now capacity to provide 40 litres of water per person per day (also called litres per capita per day or lpcd) on an average.

"We have 18 per cent of the world's population but just 4 per cent of its water. Out of this, 3 per cent is salty and just 1 per cent potable. Of this potable part, 80 per cent is used for irrigation," he said.