SC should step in: Letter to BS on Govt nod to NRDWP restructuring

This is with reference to “Reforming rural water” and “A landmark judgment” (February 22). The situation in Cape Town should make everyone sit up. First, we need a Director General for food and water security. We have better sharing arrangements with Pakistan and Bangladesh than within the country. The Supreme Court (SC) should stipulate water desalination plants for all coastal states. In due course, desalination capacity should form some percentage of drinking water requirements of the entire state.

How should one finance this? Levy a water regeneration tax on the most water intensive crop — sugarcane. Let sugar be priced at Rs 200 per kg since a kilo of sugar requires 1,500-2,000 litres of water. That revenue can fund the desalination plants and water recycling plants. Such a decision in India will never come politically and only the apex court will be able to enforce it. If it is not done, the SC should simply tell the administration to arrive at a political solution. It is time the judiciary stopped holding the hands of the executive. T R Ramaswami Mumbai