Negotiated Approaches to Integrated River Basin Management Conference Report
10th and 11th of April 2007.
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National and State level Experience:
Gomukh Trust has been
involved in the process of water
advocacy for over a decade on the
National and State level. We believe
that citizens involvement in lobbying
and advocacy is an integral and a
crucial part of the democratic process.
Econet a non-governmental
organization had organized first
workshop on the need for
groundwater legislation in
Feb/March1993. This was before the promulgation of the Groundwater Act (1993). Many water experts
and stakeholders were a part of the workshop, which submitted its recommendations and
amendments to the Government of Maharashtra. Many of these were finally included in the
Groundwater Act. The process led to the formation of Pune Water Group that met periodically to
discuss issues related to water policy. This led to workshops on the National Water Policy in 1996 and
State Water Policy (February 2002). Through these processes, an alternative State Water Policy was
formulated. Another workshop was organized to discuss the draft Maharashtra Water Resources
Planning and Regulatory Authority (as it was known then) in November/December 2002. Again,
recommendations and amendments were sent to the authorities and some of them have been
accepted in the final act. Gomukh conducted these workshops jointly with the Council for Equitable
Water Rights, AFARM, Gongotree, NCAS, Aquadam, Soppecom, River Action Group etc in the year
2002.
River Basin/ Micro Catchment Level
At the same time, acknowledging the crucial role of stakeholders, especially weaker sections of
the society, Gomukh Trust has been organizing Kolvan Valley Water Conferences in the Kolvan valley
(a small cluster of 18 villages in the mountain ranges of the Sahyadris) for the past four years. This
provides a platform for the population of a small valley to voice their issues and concerns. And yes,
some issues are resolved right during the conference itself! This process has been up-scaled to the
Bhima Basin and ‘Bhima Basin Multi stakeholder conferences was organized.
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With this background, it was a logical step for Gomukh to initiate a discussion on the “Maharashtra
Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act” and to examine it in the context of Integrated River Basin
Management and community participation.
Objectives:
The main objectives for organizing the conference were;
1. To discuss the discuss and disseminate intricacies of the MWRRA Act and the functioning of
the Authority
2. To analyze the process of river basin planning, as stated in the Act and role of people’s
participation in this crucial process.
3. To showcase community-led river basin initiatives from different of the country and to discuss
how these initiatives can be internalized and up scaled through acts like MWRRA
4. To draw lessons learned from the entire process for different states of India.
We are happy to state that Arghyam, a funding organization, based in Bangalore working on issues
related to water management agreed to provide financial support to this conference.
Background and evolution of MWRRA Law in Maharashtra:
The Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Act was passed in the year 2005, as a part of
the Maharashtra Water Sector reform process. It was passed immediately after the Management of
Irrigation Systems by Farmers Act, 2005. The stated reasons behind formulating the MWRRA act were
the actual problems faced by the Water Resources Department in managing the irrigation system in
Maharashtra. The utilization of the created irrigation potential was low (In1999-2000, potential created
was 3.500 million hectares and actual potential utilized was merely 1.286 million hectares), water tariff
recovery was low, leading to financial losses for the department, There was absence of coordination
between departments, water pollution was increasing dangerously, and the water management system
in Maharashtra was highly iniquitous and therefore not conforming to the globally accepted norms of
holistic and participatory management. It was felt that this was mainly a systemic problem and hence,
with the help of technical advise from the World Bank, the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory
Authority Act was formulated. Through MWRRA Law, MWRR Authority was constituted and the main
functions of the MWRRA are as follows:
• To regulate the water tariff systems and water charges for the use of these resources.
• To ensure that water resource development and management within the State is carried out
as per the Integrated State Water Plan prepared by the State Water Board and approved by
State Water Council
• To review and ensure administration of water use entitlements-
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1. At the river basin / sub-basin, water using sectors such as Urban and Rural drinking
water, Industries and Irrigation etc. and
2. At utility/project level between water using sectors, and also between various water
user, within each sector, within the State.
• To assist and facilitate the development of a framework for the preservation and protection of
the quality of surface and sub-surface water within the State
• To decide the criteria for trading rights of water so as to maximize the efficiency of the use of
water.
Thus, it is clear that the law deals with some of the most basic and significant facets of water
management. Unfortunately, despite its significance, there was hardly any dialogue or public debate
regarding the intricacies of the law and its implications on various sectors, and the common
stakeholder was in dark about the actual functions and powers of the law and the authority.
With this in mind, Gomukh Trust initiated a process of dialogue, not limited to the MWRRA, but
broadly about Integrated River Basin Management and the pivotal role of stakeholders in the entire
process, termed as “The Negotiated Approach to Integrated River Basin Management.”
About the conference:
The dates finalized for the conference were 10th and 11th of April 2007. Nearly 200
stakeholders from all over the Krishna basin and some experts from States like Karnataka, Tamilnadu,
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, New Delhi, etc, were invited. The invitation letter sent to the participants
stated the brief background of the process and the objectives of the conference.
The venue for holding the conference was BAIF in Pune.
Structure:
As the main objective of the conference was to initiate a ‘dialogue’ on MWRRA and IRBM, the
conference was planned with a focus on parallel thematic sessions, which enabled each participant to
contribute to the discussions. Plenary’s were limited to the inaugural session and concluding session.
Negotiated Approaches to Integrated River Basin Management Conference Report
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Each thematic session dealt with different facets of Integrated River Basin Management and discussion
centered around the implications of the MWRRA Act on the selected themes and the way in which they
would affect the implementation of this act.
An expert in the respective field chaired each session; the Initiator presented current status and led
the discussions forward.
A brief outline and introduction was prepared for all the sessions so as to introduce the participants to
the themes and help keep the discussions on track.
Day I
Themes for discussions were as follows:
A) Water Laws in India: Implications for Statutory and community-based river basin
management initiatives
Chairman: Dr. Madhavrao Chitale, An internationally acclaimed expert in water resources.
Co Chair: Shri. Ajit Nimbalkar, Chairperson, MWRRA
Initiator: Shri. Bhavanishanker Benkipur, Sahaoyoga, Bangalore
Rapporteur: Shri. C.T. Pandit, Yashawantrao Chavan Pratishthan
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B) Resolving water conflicts in river basin management
Chairperson: Shri. Janakarajan, Madras Institute for Development Studies, Madras.
Initiator: Dr. K.J. Joy, Soppecom, Pune.
Rapporteur: Shri. Sudhir Bhogale, WALMI Aurangabad.
C) Managing Floods through IRBM
Chairperson: Dr. S. Bhingare, Ex Director, WALMI.
Initiator: Shri. R.S. Gaikwad, Engineer and expert in Flood Zone Mapping.
Rapporteur: Vinod Bodhankar, Jal Dindi Pune.
Day II
D) Ground water Management in IRBM
Chairperson: Dr. Mukundrao Ghare, AFARM
Initiator: Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, AQWADAM, Pune.
Rapporteur: Dr. Shashank Deshpande, GSDA, Pune.
E) Allocating Water for Nature through IRBM
Chairperson: Dr. Prakash Gole, Ecological Society, Pune.
Initiator: Ms. Parineeta Dandekar, Gomukh Trust.
Rapporteur: Mr. Pramod Pokharkar Gomukh Trust.
F) Urban Issues in River Basin Management
Chairperson: Shri. Vivek Kharwadkar, Pune Municipal Corporation.
Initiator: Shri. Vishwanath, Arghyam, Bangalore.
Rapporteur: Vinod Bodhankar, Jal Dindi, Pune.
Program of the conference:
The program was finalized after a number of internal meetings. The main aim was to have a
program, which fulfilled the stated objectives of the process as well which could provide a platform for
all the participants to voice their opinions. The final program is attached as annexure.
Negotiated Approaches to Integrated River Basin Management Conference Report
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Negotiated Approaches to Integrated River Basin Management Conference Report
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Day I: 10th April 2007
Proceedings of the conference;
Inaugural Session:
After Deep Prajwalan, Prof. Paranjpye introduced Shri. Nimbalkar, IAS, and a Senior Executive
officer in the State Government of Maharashtra. He retired as Chief Secretary of Government of
Maharashtra in 2004, and has headed the Maharashtra Electricity Regulation Commission. He has been
the Chairperson of MWRRA since August 2005.
Shri. Ajit Nimbalkar:
He initiated the
address by thanking Gomukh
and Arghyam for organizing a
conference on MWRRA and
inviting him to inaugurate. He
added that though he had a
good administrative
experience, he had never
dealt directly with water. But
water, is an all-encompassing
subject and hence he has
been in touch with water in
the positions that he has held. He acknowledged the presence of experts on the dais as well as in the
audience. He elaborated on the rationale of the Authority and some of its functioning aspects.
The inaugural address is presented below verbatim.
“Maharashtra is the first state to pass the MWRRA Act and forming the Authority. What was
the reason? This was piloted by the Water Resources Department. Almost 80% of available water in
Maharashtra is used for irrigation; therefore water as a subject, was always handled by the Irrigation
Department. This embraced all aspects of water management from planning, tariffs, etc, but water is
not a subject limited to Irrigation Department. Though with evolution of several other departments,
Water Resource Department continued to be the parent department. Irrigation and Power
departments received the bulk of budgetary allocations. Together, Irrigation and power constituted
more than 50% of the budgetary allocations. Despite spending Rs. 40,000 Crores in Maharashtra, and
the creation of surface irrigation of about 4 million hectares there were many short comings in the
process and management e.g. large demand, political pressures, thrust was on initiating too many
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projects and not on completing them, low water use efficiency, tariffs were not according to water use
etc.
The main problem was a lack of coordination at the field level. It was felt that the Irrigation
Department was forcing its policies of water tariffs on to other departments like Industries.
Unsustainable use, pollution of water was a major problem, and people’s participation was largely non-
existent, or was rather limited only up to consultation. But the world over, things were changing and
therefore, there was a feeling that even in Maharashtra, participation should be encouraged and
government should take the role of a facilitator. The present Chief minister felt that in order to have
more efficient systems, entire management and distribution should be revamped. He felt encouraged
from the outcomes of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission.
He mooted the idea of a separate authority, independent of political pressure, which was
taken up later by the World Bank. This came hand in hand with the efforts to establish Water Users
Association (WUA). A total of 554 WUA’s were in operation even before the promulgation of
Maharashtra Planning of Irrigation by Farmers Act (MMIFS Act).
Shri. Nimbalkar then explained the organizational structure of the MWWR Authority. He
explained that the main function of the Authority was to manage water use entitlements, fixing water
tariffs for different users, coordinate work on IRBM plans for the State and river basins and that the
Authority will play a role of a watchdog to see whether the basin plans are in keeping with the
integrated State Water Plan.
It has emerged from several meetings that groundwater also has to be an integral part of the
water management process. This will mean several amendments in the MWRRA Act, which would be
done simultaneously. One more important aspect that needs to be studied in details is water tariffs in
urban areas, at the same time, thrust has to be on effluent treatment and improving the water quality.
The Authority has special responsibilities in Vidarbha and Marathwada to ensure that the Maharashtra
State Governor’s Directive regarding regional imbalance are followed.
He then explained the process of basin planning. He accepted that no one has any experience
in formulating these plan. Hence, a technical manual has been prepared by the MWRRA for guiding the
River Basin Agencies (RBA) in preparing the River Basin Plans (RBPs). It is expected that the river
basin plans and the ISWP will hold for a period of 20-25 years and they will be reviewed after every
five years.
The primary data collection will be an important prerequisite for formulating the RBPs, and the
Plan should look at the present level of development and the balance available for future
developments, should cover status of water quality and action plan for preservation of water quality.
The plan will consist of nearly 23 chapters dealing with various issues. There will be a short term and a
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long-term plan. A Draft plan will be given wide publicity through media and feedback from various
stakeholders will be taken and then this plan will be finalized.
Generally government departments are not willing to share power, but this will be done
through the MWRRA. Only time and experience will decide how successful we will be. The role of this
authority is not only ‘regulatory’ but also that of guiding and promoting the process. I hope that in the
coming months, we will be successful in initiating the process. Today’s conference will also go a long
way and all the experts, present here, will be with us in the process and we will seek your guidance”.
Prof. Paranjpye thanked Shri. Nimbalkar and introduced the next speaker, Shri. Suresh Sodal.
Shri. Sodal has retired as the Secretary of the Irrigation Department. He has played a major role in
water sector reforms in Maharashtra starting from regular publication of Irrigation Status Reports,
publishing Water Audits, Benchmarking studies of Irrigation projects. He has received the Shanti
Mohan Yadav Award recognizing his desire to share information, and his initiative in making all such
data available to the public.
Shri. Sodal:
He initiated his speech by
thanking Gomukh and Arghyam for
organizing a conference on a subject of
Water Policy, a subject that is
neglected quite often. He said that such
neglect had led to non-involvement of
users, causing major problems. Taking
a note of these problems the Govt. of
Maharashtra has made an effort to
solve these to meet challenges of the
21st Century. His presentation mainly focused on the role of MWRRA, process of preparing and
monitoring river basin planning and people’s participation in the process.
The presentation started with the objectives and functions of the MWRRA Authority,
Objectives:
• Establish an institutional framework.
• Regulate water resources within the State.
• Facilitate & ensure judicious, equitable & sustainable management, allocation & utilization of
water resources.
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• Fix rates for use of water for agriculture, industrial, drinking & other purposes.
Functions:
• To determine, regulate and enforce the distribution of entitlement for various categories of the
users.
• The distribution of entitlement within each category
• To determine & regulate seasonal / annual water entitlements during scarcity.
• To establish water tariff system for various categories of water uses for stable & self-
sustainable management of service delivery.
• To regulate water resource projects.
• To ensure development as per Integrated State Water Plan (ISWP),
• Economic, hydrological & environmental viability
• Statutory & other obligations for inter-state entitlements.
• To facilitate protection of water quality and its preservation.
• To promote ‘sound’ water conservation practices.
• To function as Appellate Authority for Dispute Resolution.
Special Powers of Authority for Removal of Backlog in appointments (Section 21 of Act).
The Authority has special responsibility in regards to districts & regions affected by backlog in
appointing personnel in the Irrigation Sector as per Governor's Directives. Out of total sanctioned post
41 (Regular – 21, Contract – 20), only 22 posts are filled so far.
Salient features:
Mr Sodal then explained the salient features and structure of this Authority and underlined the
importance of stakeholders in the process. Main functions of the authority are entitlements; water
tariffs and river basin planning, where as remaking the plans are additional functions.
He added that the Government has decided to test the Act on pilot basis for selected projects and the
concept of entitlements has been introduced in six projects for two years viz Kukadi (major project),
Ghod (major project), Mangi (medium project), Wafgaon (minor project), Diwale & Benikre.
The Authority has prepared a manual on deciding the entitlements for Irrigation, Industrial and
drinking water sector.
From fifth year onwards, entitlements will be up-scaled for the entire state.
Water Tariffs:
Users will be involved in preparing tariff plans. In the year 2007, the Authority will decide tariffs for
the next year the irrigation department. A Draft Base Paper has been prepared based on international
best practices.
Manual:
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Draft Operation and Maintenance manual has been prepared and will be published in March 2008 and
it will decide the exact number of staff required for asset management.
Integrated State Water Plan:
Technical manual for State Water Plan has been prepared and will be published next month. This will
be circulated to the participants for amendments.
Contents of River Basin Plan:
• Development plan for entire basin.
• Management plan for completed projects.
• Watershed management plan (for portions other than command).
• Water quality management plan.
• Flood management plan.
• Action Plan (to be included later) forecasting the demand for water in the next 20 years.
Many provisions have been made in the rules of the Act and the technical manuals. Though the
preamble of the MWRRA states that it will regulate surface as well as sub surface water, groundwater
act did not come in time with the MWRRA, therefore, Ground Water Development and Management
Act has been prepared in consultation with WRD, involving GSDA. Draft Bill, that was limited for
drinking water, will be expanded. Thus, MWRRA will also function, as State Groundwater Regulatory
Authority and MWRRA Act will be amended accordingly. Draft amendments have been sent to
Government Of Maharashtra for approval.
After the 1990s, growth in the agriculture sector has been negative. There are many factors
responsible for this, mainly the Irrigation sector. According to him an integrated approach to basin
management will help to revive the agriculture sector also. He further explained the process of framing
the State Water Policy (2002) with the view of equity and sustainability in mind. He explained the
various institutional, legal and policy reforms. He concluded his address by presenting the draft new
logo of MWRRA.
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Prof. Paranjpye thanked Shri. Sodal for his presentation and for making “people’s participation”
it’s central theme. He stressed the importance of concentrating on the non-irrigational uses of water,
as they form a major part of the revenue generated.
He then introduced Dr. Madhav Chitale and said that Dr Chitale has been working in water
management since 1956 and has served the Government of Maharashtra till 1992. Dr Chitale is also
the Chairman of ICID (International Commission of Irrigation and Drainage). And he was awarded the
prestigious “Stockholm Water Prize”.
Dr Chitale:
Dr Chitale expressed his
pleasure that the tone of the two-day
conference is set through expert
presentations. He said that a
multipurpose approach to
development and management of a
river valley has not been new to India.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar framed the
Damodar Valley Development and
Regulation Act with this vision. This
was a Parliamentary Act, but somehow, we could not realize it. Why was the success partial? This
analysis can be a good starting point in assessing the MWRRA. Another document which needs
attention is the Indus Treaty: Report on Krishna Godavari Commission, released in 1962 by
Dr.N.D.Gulati .He was a negotiator with Pakistan at that time.
In the water sector, fortunately we have many well-written documents, but the problem is
translating them into action. One of the points highlighted by the Krishna-Godavari Commission was
the complete change in the cropping pattern in these two valleys. The Kaveri Award has taken some
bold steps in this direction and has changed the irrigation year from 1st of June to 31st of January. No
irrigation should take place from man-made storages later than 31st of Jan. This has been given a
legal status through the Kaveri Award. Thus our irrigation season now has been confined from June to
the end of January. A major change in cropping pattern will be the main reform in the agriculture
sector, which will have to keep pace with water sector reforms.
The third set of documents is the awards of different water tribunals, starting from the Krishna
Tribunal. One of the ticklish issues was the variability in availability of water. Management of variability
has not been addressed in many river basins for example, in Krishna river basin,