House panel suggests prepaid cards for power to save groundwater
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under Jal Shakti Ministry should take the initiative by urging both the Power Ministry and Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare along with state governments to take measures on saving groundwater. Observing that the primary reason for excessive exploitation of groundwater is wide cultivation of water guzzler paddy and sugarcane crops, the Committee suggests the use of electric pumps needs to be further discouraged by introducing measures such pre-paid cards for power supply and restricting power supply to few hours a day.
In its report, “Groundwater: A Valuable but Diminishing Resource”, which was tabled in Parliament recently, the Standing Committee on Water Resources said, “States like Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Tamil Nadu offer completely free power, while other states have provision for collection of token charges.”
“The Committee, however, notes that Punjab introduced a scheme by way of which farmers were refunded money if they consumed less electricity. They further note that under Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana of Ministry of Power, separate component of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders have been created for facilitating judicious rostering of supply to agriculture & non-agriculture consumers in rural areas,” the report said.
“However, groundwater continues to be used excessively for catering to irrigation demands. Therefore, the Committee us of the view that use of electric pumps need to be further discouraged by way of devising such measures as introduction of pre-paid cards for power supply, restricting it for a few hours in the day, etc,” it said.
“The Committee noticed that over-extraction of groundwater for meeting irrigation needs is prevalent mainly in northern states, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, which are extracting 97%, 90% and 86% of groundwater, respectively, for this purpose. Other states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are also significant users of groundwater for irrigation as they are using approximately 89%, 92% and 90%, respectively, of their total groundwater extraction for agricultural purposes,” said the report.
“Main reason for such over exploitation of ground water is due to wide cultivation of water guzzler paddy and sugarcane crops which are heavily incentivized by way of highly subsidized pricing of water, power, fertilizers on one hand and assured markets for their outputs through procurement of rice in Punjab-Haryana belt and of sugarcane by sugar factories at government determined prices,” the report said.
The committee noted that the progress made in terms of bringing down the groundwater use is “minimal.” The Committee therefore, recommend, “devising integrated measures for adoption in agriculture, to reduce dependence on groundwater in agriculture,” said the report. The committee also said that there is a need for shift in focus from ‘land productivity’ to ‘water productivity’. (Indian Express)
Supreme Court nudges Centre to play "pro-active role" in Satluj-Yamuna canal link dispute
The Supreme Court recently told the Centre that being the main arbiter in water dispute between two states, it is required to play a more "pro-active role instead of being a mute spectator" and asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to hold discussions to resolve the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute.
During the hearing, the Punjab government told the top court that they have huge scarcity of water with water tables going down in the rivers and there is "no point building canals like a Taj Mahal", with no water flowing through it. The Haryana government, on the other hand, told the apex court that its people need water which comes from Punjab, which has to abide by the decree for construction of a canal in its jurisdictional area.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Aravind Kumar said, "We expect the endeavours of the States to sit together to still find a solution is the way forward and we call upon the States to hold meetings, not frequently at the highest political dispensation level so that at least there is some progress in the discussions. We expect the Union of India also to play a proactive role in the endeavour to bridge the gap."
The SYL canal was conceptualised for effective allocation of water from Ravi and Beas rivers. The project envisaged a 214-km canal, of which 122 km was to be constructed in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana. Haryana has completed the project in its territory. Though Punjab took up the work in 1982, it was later shelved. The dispute between the two states has been lingering on for decades and the top court had on January 15, 2002, ruled in favour of Haryana in a suit filed by it in 1996 and directed the Punjab government to construct the SYL canal.
Since then various orders have been passed by the apex court in the matter, including a verdict by a five-judge Constitution bench while deciding a 2004 presidential reference that said that Punjab has to comply with its earlier verdict and held as unconstitutional the PTAA, 2004.
The bench said, "We are also clear in our view that whatever else may be the defense of the State of Punjab, no reliance is permissible on the aforesaid (PTAA) Act once the reference is answered against it. We, however, record the submissions of the counsel for State of Punjab that this is an advisory opinion". The bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 4.
"The endeavour of this Court has been to arrive at a mediated settlement. That should not be taken as a license for an infinite period of time to lapse. We are sure that the parties do realize the ramifications and the necessity of a negotiated settlement, more so, in view of the security concerns which arise when other forces start taking over in such a scenario," the top court had said. (NDTV)
Define environmental flow of Yamuna along lines of Ganga to maintain its health: Parliamentary committee
The Standing Committee on Water Resources has urged the Centre and Delhi government collaborate to clean the Yamuna river. Highlighting that less flow at Delhi’s Wazirabad during the dry period is one of the major issues that impede the cleaning of the Yamuna river, a Parliamentary committee has urged the government to consider defining its environmental flow (e-flow) along the line of the Ganga river to maintain its health.
“The Committee further note that the major impediments for cleaning of river Yamuna are less flow at Wazirabad during dry period, illegal discharge of sewage and industrial effluent, disposal of solid waste in drains, improper functioning of CETPs (common effluent treatment plants) and insufficient sewage treatment capacity,” it said in the report presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The committee, in its report, observed that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and National Capital Territory of Delhi on May 12, 1994, regarding allocation of utilisable surface flow of Yamuna up to Okhla Barrage (Upper Yamuna) among the co-basin states.
The MoU stipulated that ‘a minimum flow in proportion of completion of upstream storages going up to 10 cumec shall be maintained downstream of Tajewala and Okhla Headworks throughout the year from ecological considerations, as upstream storages are built up progressively in a phased manner’, the report said.
According to the report, “The Committee observe that storage as stipulated by the 1994 MoU among the States for maintaining minimum flow in the river Yamuna throughout the year has not been built so far. Even the Department has reasoned that less flow at Wazirabad during dry period is one of the major issues that impedes cleaning of river Yamuna. The Committee, therefore, recommend the Department to make all out efforts in cooperation with the concerned States to build the storage capacity.”
“Further, the Committee also urge upon the Department to consider defining e-flow for the river Yamuna on the line of the river Ganga in order to maintain the health of the river and also its ecosystem,” the report said. (Indian Express)
Serious failure of Jharkhand to prevent continued environmental lawlessness, says NGT
The green panel also directed the chief secretary to personally monitor compliance as there was "much to be desired in remedial action against gross continuing violations in spite of categorical orders". The tribunal was hearing petitions that claimed that stone-crushing and mining companies in the Rajmahal hills of Sahebganj district were indulging in indiscriminate mining without regard for environmental norms. The hills are blown up, huge dust is generated and air and water pollution is caused -- to the detriment of the environment and public health -- during the process, the petitions alleged.
A bench of Chairperson Justice AK Goel said despite several orders -- including prohibiting illegal mining and non-compliant stone crushing activities -- in the last five years, because of "collusion of the authorities in the state or their inaction, the situation continues to remain unsatisfactory".
"Question is whether such lawlessness can continue in a system governed by the Constitution and rule of law when the doctrine of public trust requires and the Constitution assigns inalienable responsibility to the state to protect the environment. "We hope the situation improves but we regret to record the serious failure of the state of Jharkhand till now to prevent continuing environmental lawlessness," the bench said.
The tribunal noted that, in pursuance to its August 2022 order, an earlier panel had submitted an action taken report in January and a supplementary report dated March 14. Large-scale violations are continuing and action taken is inadequate and there is a failure of the state to discharge its obligation under the public trust doctrine to protect the environment, the state's resources and public health, the report stated. The matter has been posted for further proceedings on August 3. (Outlook India)
New ethanol blending policy of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu, one of India’s leading states in agriculture and industry, has launched a new ethanol blending policy to promote sustainable and cost-effective green fuel. The state government aims to attract investments worth Rs 5,000 crore in molasses or grain-based ethanol production capacity to meet the increasing petrol requirement and reduce GHG emissions from the transportation sector.
The new ethanol blending policy of Tamil Nadu is a step towards sustainable energy and agriculture, promoting cost-effective green fuel, reducing GHG emissions, reviving the sugar industry, improving farmer income, and maximising value addition to the state’s natural resources. The policy is a significant contribution to the national biofuels policy of achieving 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by 2025. It is also a model for other states to emulate and create a sustainable ecosystem for ethanol production, providing multiple benefits to the economy, agriculture, and environment.
With transportation accounting for nearly one-fourth of GHG emissions and the projected growth of the state’s vehicular fleet, there is an immediate need to transition to alternate cost-effective green fuel that mitigates climate change. The new policy aims to achieve this goal by increasing the production of fuel grade ethanol from a diversified range of crops such as sugarcane, paddy, maize, tapioca, and sweet sorghum.
The policy also seeks to improve farmer income through price realisation and expansion in opportunities due to ethanol blending. It aims to revive the sugar industry in Tamil Nadu through improved utilisation of existing mills and diversification to dual feedstock. This will create new avenues for income generation for farmers and boost the state’s economy. Some of the key benefits of the policy are: (a) Encourage diversification of feedstock to encourage low water consuming and versatile crops like maize, sorghum and tapioca (b) Utilisation of damaged rice for ethanol production and (c) Expansion of grain-based distilleries and creation of new molasses and sugar/syrup-based distilleries.
Tamil Nadu has a natural advantage with a total cropped area of 6.63 million hectares from a diversified range of crops such as sugarcane, paddy, maize, tapioca, and sweet sorghum. The coverage of irrigated area is higher than the national average, providing an ideal ecosystem for ethanol production. The new policy provides an opportunity for Tamil Nadu to maximise its value addition to the state’s natural resources by promoting indigenous ethanol production based on existing locally available agrocentric resources, expansion of these resources as well as utilisation of surplus and damaged produce. (India CSR)
Punjab, Haryana pass resolutions against Himachal Pradesh’s water cess
The Punjab and Haryana assemblies on Wednesday unanimously passed separate resolutions against a move by the Himachal Pradesh government to impose water cess on hydropower projects in the hill state.
The two resolutions said the move was illegal and should be withdrawn. It also urged the Centre to prevail upon the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw the legislation as it was violative of the Inter State Water Disputes Act, 1956.
On March 14, the Himachal government had promulgated an ordinance to impose water cess on hydropower projects for non-consumptive use of water for power generation. The ordinance was last week replaced by a replica bill, which was passed by the assembly.
In Punjab, the resolution was introduced on the last day of the budget session by water resources minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who called the neighbouring state’s move “senseless”. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann said the Himachal Pradesh government’s move was “illegitimate and irrational”. “We will not pay even a single penny for the water flowing through our land,” he asserted.
In Haryana, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar moved the resolution in the assembly. “The levy is not only an infringement of the exclusive rights of the state over its natural resources, but will also result in additional financial burden for generation of power resulting in the higher cost of generation of electricity,” Khattar said. (Hindustan Times)
This is a roundup of important policy matters from March 16 - March 31, 2023.
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