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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

User fee for water even in agri sector? by Prabhakar Sinha & Dipak Kumar Dash

Water may no longer be a free commodity even for the agriculture sector. In order to deal with an imminent water crisis that could haunt the country in the next few decades, the Centre has commissioned the Planning Commission to formulate a policy on integrated water management.

Plan panel deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told TOI that the document will be ready by September. Admitting that water crisis is more serious than energy crisis, Ahluwalia said people are already paying for energy and now a policy needs to be formulated on levying user fee on water too.

He said that a need for an integrated policy had been felt considering that diverse sectors which cater to irrigation, rural and urban drinking manage their affairs behaving as if god has given them an infinite authority over water. ‘‘That would not have been a problem if India’s water availability would have been five times more than what it is. The situation is getting worse as the country’s per capita availability is reaching the water-stress situation,’’ the Plan panel deputy chief said.

He added that those involved in rural water-supply scheme prepare the plan of boring tubewells and wells to meet the future needs, based on the analysis of water availability in that particular region. ‘‘But the over-exploitation of groundwater for agriculture in those same areas might leave no water below the ground and so the entire investment will be a waste in the next few years. That’s the biggest concern,’’ he pointed out. Ahluwalia said that nearly 80% of India’s water goes to agriculture and this can be reduced to 50%, whereas the productivity can be pushed to 100%.

The document that the Plan panel is preparing will also deal with the management of sewerage. Ahluwalia said when the water is scarce, mechanisms have to be in place to put to use whatever is available at hand.