State to soon set up river management authority

K P Sai Kiran | TNN | Apr 14, 2020, 15:25 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An authority to ensure equitable, sustainable allocation and utilization of water resources will soon come into existence in Kerala as the cabinet gave clearance for the same on Monday. The bill, titled Kerala River Basin Conservation and Management Authority Bill 2020, is ready and government is likely to come up with an ordinance, in this regard, soon. The authority is being set up in the wake of urgent need to conserve water resources. At present, there is no regulatory mechanism or law in Kerala for the above mentioned purpose.
The draft bill, accessed by TOI, says that the intention behind the act is to fix water tariffs and criteria to levy charges for use of water in agri, industrial and drinking purposes, inland transport, riverine fisheries, pisciculture and floriculture. The authority will determine the rates of river products like river sand.
The authority is being envisaged as an autonomous body that will have a 14-member governing council (where the chief secretary and water resources department secretary be the chairperson and vice-chairperson), a 10-member executive council (where water resources and finance department secretaries will be chairperson and vice-chairperson) and a 24-member advisory council that will be chaired by the chief minister and water resources minister. The authority will determine the policy to prioritise water distribution and prepare integrated river-basin master plans for each river system in consultation with all stakeholders over the next two years. It will also conduct technocommercial reviews of projects, investment plans and designs concerning usage of water resources and plan new water resource storage, flood management and other measures to address climate change. This will be in accordance with state action plan for climate change.
The committee can charge fee for any commercial or quasi-commercial activity undertaken in a river basin and can inspect and obstruct unauthorized abstraction of water and levy arrears. Several states have already set up similar bodies/law.