Opposition to overarching legal framework of principles on water

A conference of Water Resources and Irrigation Ministers here on Wednesday saw opposition to the Centre’s proposal to evolve an overarching national legal framework of principles on water, to link financial assistance to “aggressive” water sector reforms and to set up a Permanent Forum of Water Resources and Irrigation Ministers to deliberate on issues/disputes.

GUWAHATI: Taking advantage of the long pending inter-State border dispute and the negligence of the Assam government, illegal stone quarries are flourishing along the Assam-Meghalaya border adjacent to Basistha temple, a famous tourism site in Guwahati city. The Baisistha temple is located around 7-km away from Dispur.

Over the last few years, many small to big stone quarries were set up in the Kalachanda area, a ‘disputed stretch’ of the Assam-Meghalaya border. Kalachanda is around 2-km away from the Basistha temple.

The Centre is yet to take a decision on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s request, made in April to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for appointing a new Chairman to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal after Justice N.P. Singh resigned his post on health grounds.

As a result, the Tribunal is unable to function to decide on Tamil Nadu’s applications seeking certain directions against Karnataka government. Within days of Justice Singh’s resignation, Ms. Jayalalithaa sought the Prime Minister’s intervention. She said that as per Section 5A of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, the Tribunal proceedings could continue only if a person was nominated as Chairman.

The Supreme Court on Monday was surprised by the Centre's apparent lack of engagement in resolving the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over sharing of Cauvery waters in distress years desp

Karnataka is expected to convey to the Supreme Court that it is keen on adhering to the water release formula prescribed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) and that the vagaries of monsoon has prevented it from sticking to the formula so far this year.

Tamil Nadu had approached the apex court seeking a direction for the release of nearly 25 tmcft of water, claiming it as the shortfall based on the distress water-sharing formula. The petition of the lower riparian State is coming up for hearing on Monday.

It will have guiding principles on laws States may adopt

In a move that will have far-reaching implications, the Centre has decided to frame a new National Water Framework Act with guiding principles on water laws the States may adopt. States that adopt and reform will be incentivised for water projects. That such a law would be made is buried in the pages of the draft new national water policy, which is yet to be considered by the National Water Council, the supreme policy body chaired by Prime Minister and with Chief Ministers as members.

In a move that will have far-reaching implications, the Centre has decided to frame a National Water Framework Act with guiding principles on water laws the States may adopt. States that adopt and reform will be incentivised for water projects.

That such a law would be made is buried in the pages of the draft new national water policy, which is yet to be considered by the National Water Council, the supreme policy body chaired by Prime Minister and with Chief Ministers as members.

GUWAHATI: Dispur is not taking the Assam’s inter-State boundary problem with Meghalaya seriously and has left the villagers living along the Meghalaya border at the mercy of the neighbouring State. This was alleged by the Greater Baisistha Development Coordination Committee.

According to the Greater Baisistha Development Coordination Committee, several acres of land in the Baisistha locality under Dispur Revenue Circle had been encroached upon by Meghalaya in the last few years. The encroachment by Meghalaya was also rampant at the Boko area in Kamrup district, said the Committee.

Amid inter-State disputes on water sharing, members of a Parliamentary Standing Committee have supported the idea of putting water in the Concurrent List of Constitution to help the Centre have a g

Accusing neighbouring Kerala of using its police to prevent Tamil Nadu engineers from carrying out even the routine maintenance work at the contentious Mullaperiyar dam site, Chief Minister J Jayal