The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : No plan to transfer ‘water' to Concurrent List: Minister

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Wednesday, Sep 22, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

No plan to transfer ‘water' to Concurrent List: Minister

Special Correspondent

Rs.200 crore for recharge of groundwater table in State: Vincent H. Pala

— Photo: R.Shivaji Rao

Conserving water:Vincent H. Pala, Minister of State for Water Resources, releasing the CII-Voluntary Aqua Code, at TN Water Summit 2010 in Chennai on Tuesday. Nandini Rangaswamy, chairperson, CII Tamil Nadu; S. Raghupathy, senior director & head CII Godrej GBC; and N.K. Ranganath, event chairman, TN Water Summit, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: The Union government has, as of now, no intention of transferring the subject of ‘water' from the State List of the Constitution to the Concurrent List, Vincent H. Pala, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, said here on Tuesday.

Mr. Pala, who earlier declared open the two-day Tamil Nadu Water Summit 2010 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), was responding to a question by The Hindu on the demand in certain quarters for transfer of the subject.

“If all States want the transfer, we will look into it,” the Union Minister said, adding that Parliament had to enact an amendment to the Constitution.

Artificial recharge structures

Asked about reports that the Central scheme of constructing artificial recharge structures through dug wells had been suspended, Mr. Pala, a first-time Member of Parliament from Shillong (Meghalaya), denied it. The scheme was being implemented in seven States.

He added that the Centre had identified overexploited blocks in the State. Around 140 blocks out of 385 fell in the category of “over-exploited blocks.” The Union government had sanctioned Rs.200 crore for the recharge of groundwater table in the State.

To another question, whether the Central government had released funds to the State under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) for the project of linking of intra-State rivers, he replied that if the project conformed to the guidelines of the Programme, the Union government was prompt in sanctioning funds.

“Matter of concern”

Earlier, in his inaugural address, Mr. Pala, described the prevalence of over-exploited blocks in the State as a “matter of concern.” He expressed the hope that several steps initiated in the State for the recharge of groundwater would result in improvement of the situation.

He pointed out that of about 900 km of coastline in the State, 640 km was vulnerable to erosion. Only around 40 km of the coastline had been provided with protection.

The Union Minister released a water directory and a voluntary aqua code, aimed at reduction of water consumption by industry.

National water campaign

S. Raghupathy, Senior Director and Head, CII Godrej GBC (Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre), said the CII would launch a national water campaign on water conservation. He explained the scope of business opportunities in water savings and conservation.

N.K. Ranganath, Event Chairman of the Water Summit 2010, and Nandini Rangaswamy, Chairperson of the CII Tamil Nadu, said that the demand for water had been rising sharply in the context of rapid industrialisation in the State.

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