Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
stakeholders on the progress of implementation. This is already
working well for a number of government schemes.
• A robust management and monitoring plan is needed to ensure
and oversee the implementation of the provisions of the river
policy. The institutional structure for integrated river resources
management needs careful design and representation of community
institutions, PRIs and ULBs, relevant government departments and
elected representatives from the State Assembly and Parliament.
State Pollution Control Boards and existing river basin-specific
organizations like the Bhagirathi River Valley Development
Authority, Irrigation Corporations in Maharashtra, Krishna and
Godavari River Management Boards, Water Resources Regulatory
Authorities (in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh)
need to be integrated in the institutional structure.
• Convergence across various government bodies: In the section
discussing the role of each stakeholder and the institutions, we
list a number of Ministries and their respective departments that
need to be engaged to revitalize the rivers. These departments
deal with - agriculture, water resources, environment, fisheries,
rural development, pollution control, horticulture and others. The
stakeholders along with whom these ministries have to work are
- farmer organizations, Gram Sabhas and their forest resource
management committees, consumer groups, private sector players,
NGOs/Community Based Organizations, elected representatives
and PRIs. To establish convergence and coordination of all these
institutions and the stakeholders is a crucial task. As has been
done for various government schemes in the past, there could
be a Mission-model body with personnel drawn from relevant
departments, reporting to a committee of Secretaries of the relevant
departments, and finally answerable to a Group of Ministers of
relevant Ministries, chaired by the Chief Minister. A similar coordination
mechanism drawing on personnel from various State
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