PM favours 'economic pricing' for power

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News


New Delhi, Sep 11: Touching upon the sensitive issue of pricing of water, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today favoured ''economic pricing'' of power for drawing ground water as it would prove to be an incentive for conserving water.

Addressing the National Congress on Ground Water 2007,' Dr Singh said the country could not continue subsidising the economic and commercial use of water and the policies must be corrected to ensure adequate emphasis on conservation, especially under the ground.

The Prime Minister said the policy of providing free power to farmers had only encouraged excessive use of irrigaiton pumpsets and ground water.

Urging the Panchayati Raj Institutions to play a vital role in the conservation of ground water, the Prime Minister described Chennai as an ''impressive example'' for having recharged ground through a city-based, neighborhood-based strategy. Every village, locality and neighborhood and town should have a rain water harvesting system and must actively engage in ground water recharge and renovation, besides maintenance of water bodies, he emphasised.

Dr Singh said it was necessary to deal with demand management as every living being had a right to potable water. However, emphasis should be given on economical and more rational use of water.

The Prime Minister said the government during the last three years had taken steps to formulate a scheme for the Dug Well Recharge in hard rock regions of seven states in the country.

However, ''Conservation, management and utilisation can't be imposed on the country from Delhi. Therefore, it has to be a community-based region-specific strategy,'' he added.


UNI

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