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

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
Knots
Approaches to Unknot or Alleviate Effect of Knot
5 Pollution Organic or NPM agriculture practice; regulatory
norms with incentives and disincentives for
various types of action on the city and industrial
level
6 Climate Change Afforestation
As water is a State subject under the Constitution, the protection
of rivers is under the purview of State governments. However, The River
Boards Act of 1956 deals with interstate rivers and empowers the Center
for: the conservation, control and optimum utilization of water resources;
promotion and operation of schemes for irrigation, water supply or
drainage; promotion and operation of schemes for the development of
hydro-electric power; promotion and operation of schemes for flood
control; promotion and control of navigation; promotion of afforestation
and control of soil erosion; and prevention of pollution of waters. 4 Yet the
Act has never been used. One reason could be the complex and delicate
nature of Center-State relations, with the Central Government hesitating
to get into a confrontation with a State. Both at the Center and at the
State levels, various aspects of exploitation and conservation of rivers
are divided among Ministries. For example, hydro-electric power falls
under the Ministry of Power; irrigation falls under the Ministry of Water
Resources or Ministry of Irrigation; conservation of rivers falls under
the Ministry of Environment and Forests. To be able to manage rivers
sustainably, coordination between these Ministries is of paramount
importance. This aspect of the solution will be dealt with in detail in
Chapter 4, as it is dependent on the implementation framework of the
proposed solution that we cover in Chapters 2 and 3.
The second solution of afforestation is an answer to deforestation,
as well as over-exploitation of groundwater and climate change.
Afforestation is a solution proposed from the source augmentation of
71