Context: India needs to formulate the new water policy as India going through water crisis and for this, a committee was setup in 2019.
Key inputs for new National Water Policy (NWP)
Comprehensive approach: The policy shall reflect both the emerging realities on the ground, as also the growing understanding of water in the 21st century.
Respect nature: Amidst the unprecedented environmental crisis, nature is reminding us to acknowledge, with humility, our quintessential equality and inter-dependency.
Re-orient development models and consumerism-driven lifestyles: We are living in an inter-connected world and cannot continue with business-as-usual approach in the quest for development and modernisation as every action impacts the environment.
Move away from “command-and control” approach: Towards a system that recognise that economy is but a small part of the larger ecosystem.
Ideas from five key water reforms:
Need to break down the silos into which water divided.
Respect for immense diversity of India while planning for water.
Greater focus on management and distribution of water.
Higher priority to recycling and reuse of water.
Raising people’s awareness and people’s participation in management of water.
Focus on strategies of implementation: So that unlike the water policies of the past, the new NWP should not end up as just a token statement.
Specific strategies with time-lines, within which key provisions of policy would be implemented.
Stakeholder participation: Open workshops with stakeholders concerned before Government of India takes a final view on the NWP drafted by the committee of independent experts.