The government today formed a six- member panel to discuss modalities of Mihir Shah committee report which has recommended formation of National Water Commission (NWC) by subsuming CGWB and CWC, an idea which has not gone down well with engineers attached to the latter.
A decision to this regard was taken during a meeting held in the presence of Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Kumar Balyan here to discuss the Shah committee report on reorganising river water management.
Replying to questions, Ministry Secretary Shashi Shekhar said, "Yes, a new panel has been formed under me to discuss modalities of the Shah panel report. We will meet soon to discuss the report and expect to submit the new committee's report by October."
According to ministry sources, a presentation was made on the Shah committee report to senior officials of the ministry, Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).
While CGWB made "positive" suggestions, CWC expressing dissent, is learnt to have given a "negative" feedback over the report.
The sources noted that the country is "already in water- crisis stage" with several parts experiencing drought during summer and is heading for "criticality".
"The Shah report talks about reversing the current situation. If we don't introduce changes now, it will be too late. It talks about structural reforms, dismantling of command and control structure which are in the interest of the country," they said.
Meanwhile, on asked about apprehensions expressed by CWC engineers that the Commission's existence will come to an end following formation of NWC, Shekhar said, "Their (engineers') existence will not come to an end, it is just that their roles will change. They will be part of a multi-disciplinary organisation which the country needs."
The report of the Shah committee, formed last year to also suggest ways to restructure CWC and CGWB, calls for managing properly country's surface and groundwater, pitches for planning river basin at organisation level, improving flood management and managing urban waste.
NWC, as proposed in the report, will advise states on how much water is available with them and ways to spend it judicially.
CGWB is mandated with developing and disseminating technologies and monitoring and implementing national policies for scientific and sustainable development and management of country's ground water resources.
CWC is responsible for coordinating and furthering, in consultation with the state governments concerned, schemes for conservation and utilisation of water resources across the country for purposes of flood control, irrigation, drinking water supply and power development.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
