Policies, Laws and Regulations

Forwarded to the Portal by: Himanshu Thakkar, SANDRP

The latest edition of the Dams, Rivers and People Newsletter is out !

Guest Post by: Himanshu Thakkar, SANDRP

You may recall that following an appeal by SANDRP before the Central Information Commission, CIC had in January 2009 asked India Met Dept to review their policy and put up district wise monthly rainfall data for at least five years on its website. The relevant order of CIC can be seen here: CIC to IMD Review Info Policy and relevant Press Release from SANDRP can be seen at: CIC Directs IMD to Review Information Policy Now, IMD has put up the requested data on its website, see: http://imd.gov.in/section/hydro/distrainfall/districtrain.html IMD tells us that they are still in the process of collecting, collating the data and data of more districts would be uploaded as they are ready. We have also suggested to IMD to also provide annual figures (total of the monthly data) so that people get quick picture about the same. We also notice that links for some of the districts (e.g. Nalgonda in AP) are not working. Let us know if you have other feedback. We would like to thank all those who have also submitted their comments on the India Water Portal, supporting our position, the comments were submitted to IMD and CIC.

This declaration presents summary findings and a global action agenda that address the urgent need to protect rivers globally, as proclaimed at the 10^th International River symposium and International Environmental Flows Conference, held in Brisbane, Australia, on 3-6 September 2007.  The conference was attended by more than 800 scientists, economists, engineers, resource managers an

Water Initiatives Orissa (WIO) and the Indian River Network (IRN) organised the Odisha River Conference during 18 - 20 April 2009 at Sambalpur Odisha, in which about 75 participants including activists, environmentalists, journalists, academicians, researchers and civil society representatives from across the country participated.

The Third South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN 2008), organised by Government of India, was held in New Delhi, during November 16-21, 2008, with the theme as "Sanitation for Dignity and Health".

Report of steering committee on drinking water supply and sanitation for tenth five year plan

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 aims to provide for the levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by persons carrying on certain industries and by local authorities, with a view to augment the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards for the prevention and control of water pollution constituted under the Water (Prevention

Planning commsision releases september 2007 report of the expert group on "Ground Water Management and Ownership". The report looks primarily at the problem of rural depletion of groundwater and looked into the feasibility and necessity of changing groundwater law.

While recognizing that the urban sector is a State subject (administered by State governments), and water and sanitation are local issues with predominantly local solutions, the Government of India (GoI) believes it has an important and useful role to play in facilitating reforms in urban water supply and sanitation services. This is because:

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was constituted by the Government of India in June 1990 to adjudicate the water dispute regarding inter-state river Cauvery and the river valley thereof.  The Tribunal had passed an Interim Order in June, 1991 and further Clarificatory Orders on the Interim Order in April, 1992 and December, 1995. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal ha