The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `State should set up a specialised agency for water management'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 20, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`State should set up a specialised agency for water management'

T. Ramakrishnan

It can deal with ground and surface water and decide on allocation for users Tamil Nadu needs to create a water regulatory body through legislation

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Government should immediately establish a specialised agency for water resources management, according to the World Bank.

"At present, in Tamil Nadu, as in most Indian States, water resources management and irrigation service delivery are combined and done by the Irrigation Department.

The world over, this is not regarded as the good way of doing business," World Bank Lead Water Resources Specialist Srinivasan Raj Rajagopal told The Hindu on Thursday.

Apart from irrigation, water is used by industry, tourism and recreation facilities and for drinking. So, there was a need for an agency that deals with both groundwater and surface water and decides on allocation of water to different segments of users, said Mr. Rajagopal, who was here to attend a two-day workshop on agriculture diversification and water resources management organised by the State Planning Commission.

Regulatory aspects of water management have to be handled by an exclusive agency while the delivery can be done by one or more bodies.

There can be different utilities to deal with the provision of water for irrigation, and drinking which have to function within the parameters set by the regulatory body.

Maharashtra move

Referring to Maharashtra's move to create a water regulatory body through legislation, Mr. Rajagopal, who is based in Washington and is in charge of South Asian agricultural and rural development, expressed the hope that Tamil Nadu too would follow suit.

Though the Tamil Nadu Government had created the Water Resources Organisation 10 years ago at the time of the launch of the Water Resources Consolidation Project, the idea remained on paper as "there is no cadre separation [between engineers dealing with water and those with structures]."

Assures support

Asked about the State's execution of the WRCP, he termed it "satisfactory" and said the Bank would like to support the State further in certain areas.

For instance, the heads of water users' associations needed training, for which they required support. As for tapping funds to modernise the irrigation sector, Mr. Rajagopal referred to the examples of Maharashtra and Karnataka, which had tapped resources from the market.

Private sector participation and allowing a group of firms to manage the resources were some of the options, he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Government urged to increase tax revenue allocation for panchayats

`Geometrical model of development better than arithmetic approach'

`State should set up a specialised agency for water management'

A battle won, the but war is still unfinished

Water supply comfortable

`Crop diversification needed to accelerate sustainable growth'

Slum dwellers' protest forces Railways to halt eviction

Marginal rise in rice price

Jayalalithaa donates Rs. 13 lakhs for trade union benefit fund

Missing girl traced

35 taken ill after eating biriyani

Around the City

In Chennai Today