The New Indian Express 09.03.2013
Don’t link grants to water tariff, Centre told
Tamil Nadu is opposed to the Central government’s plans to link grants to States with the regulation of water tariffs.
State Public Works Department secretary M Sai Kumar, while addressing a seminar on ‘Status of Functioning of Water Regulatory Authority in India’ organised by State Water Resources Management Agency in Chennai, said the State government was against plans to link funds to States by dictating terms on raising tariffs.
“There is no study to prove that raising tariffs reduces water consumption,” Kumar argued.
As per the recommendation of 13th Finance Commission, every State should introduce a water regulatory authority to fix charges for use of surface and sub-surface water for domestic, agriculture, industrial and other purposes.
Kumar said the State was against a water regulatory authority if its prime objective was to fix tariffs.
R K Gupta, chief engineer of the Central Water Commission said that regulation in tariffs would help in better conservation and efficient usage of water.
Gupta stressed the need to think about changing the crop pattern on account of erratic rainfall and noted that conservation was necessary as the demand for water from industries was likely to rise five-fold.
S S Rajagopal, director of State Water Resources Management Agency (SWRMA) said SWRMA was gathering all water-related data including demand and supply and was putting them on a GIS-based platform for better policing.
“The plan is to put the data on the web so that all departments can make the best use of it,” he added. Currently, SWRMA has data of 89 dams including four reservoirs.
