NATIONAL WATER POLICY

National Water Policy is formulated by the Ministry of Water Resources of the Government of India to govern the planning and development of water resources and their optimum utilization.

The first National Water Policy was adopted in September, 1987. It has been reviewed and updated in 2002.

Salient features:

1. Est. of standardized national information system with a network of data banks and data bases
2.  Planning and recycling for providing max availability
3.  Importance to the impact of projects on human settlements and environments
4.  Guidelines for the safety of storage dams and other water related structures
5.  Regulate exploitation of ground water
6. Setting water priorities: Drinking water, Irrigation, Hydropower, Navigation, Industrial and other uses.

Draft National Water Policy 2013

In this draft, Water has been considered a economic good. Hence privatization of water delivery services is being criticized.

1.  Aim of this policy is ensure access to a min quantity of potable water for essential health and hygiene to all citizens.
2.  To curtail subsidy to agricultural electricity users
3.  Setting up of Water Regulatory Authority
4.  To keep aside a portion of the river flow to meet the ecological needs
5.  To give statutory powers to water users associations to maintain the distribution system
6.  To remove the large disparity between stipulation for water supply in urban and rural areas.