Pricing groundwater use to come up before Cabinet soon : Soz

New Delhi, Sep 3 (UNI) The issue of pricing the groundwater for industrial and commercial purposes in the country would soon be brought before the Cabinet, Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz said here today.

Answering a question on pricing groundwater as recommended by an Advisory Council of the Ministry, Prof Soz said, ''the report is with me and I am studying it and it will be brought before the Cabinet very soon.'' He said commercial use constituted only about 15 per cent of the groundwater exploited with the irrigation constituting a major portion of the groundwater use. I have to decide what is the price for groundwater drawal by coke or mineral water bottling units. ''I must feels satisfied if the drawal of water by these units offers benefits to the society. I will take it before the Cabinet and if I am totally satisfied,'' he remarked.

''Groundwater like a savings bank account was very limited and one had to be very careful about its use. There would be no problem as long as the drawal was limited to interest but if the principal was also withdrawn, nothing would be left. That is our concern, he said. The Model Bill proposed punishing the offenders and water being a state subject, it was up to the States to adopt the law and implement it.

He said the Ministry of Water Resources had come out with a Model Bill to regulate and control and manage groundwater in the country and seven states, three union territories had enacted the Bill. The 16 states and four UTs had taken initiatives for enacting the Model Bill. He was very happy that Punjab had agreed to legislate the Model Bill.

The states which felt it was not necessary to enact the legislation were Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

About the groundwater situation in the country, he said he did not want to ring an alarm bell. The country had 839 overexploited areas and the states were aware of these critical areas. The Chief Ministers were asked to monitor these areas personally. Otherwise overall situation in the country was not bleak provided the society allowed enough rain water to recharge and one had to be sensitive to the situation.

Prof Soz said the National Groundwater Congress 2007 will be held here on September 11 to review the current status of groundwater resources in the country and the steps taken to promote rain water harvesting and sustainable and equitable use of groundwater and to evaluate the role of groundwater in national food and water security.

UNI