By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : A central government-appointed panel’s proposal of market linked allotment of water will lead to the resource being treated as a commercial commodity and will trigger more water-related conflicts in the country, an Orissa-based NGO said Tuesday.
“We just came to know from media reports that the Ashok Chawla committee is about to recommend that water be taken under the ‘concurrent list’ of the constitution,” Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) convenor Ranjan Panda told IANS.
“The panel is also likely to recommend a market-linked allotment of water resources. We strongly oppose these moves.
“If that happens, the central government can take control of the water resources from the states under the plea of resolving inter-state water disputes,” he said.
The central government appointed a high-powered committee led by former union finance secretary Ashok Chawla in February this year to set broad principles based on which natural resources, including water, land, gas, coal and mines, should be allocated.
Citing media reports, WIO said the committee is likely to shift the present focus of water resources from the administered pricing model to a market linked allotment model.
Under the current administered pricing model, water allocations are considered on the basis of social, welfare and also economic grounds.
Under the new model, WIO apprehends that water resources will be completely opened up to the market and water will be considered only as a commercial commodity, which means industries and other groups with money will have more access to water.
Panda said currently, the central government already enjoys some power to decide on inter-state water disputes, but putting water in the concurrent list will extend its reach.
“Government must stop considering water as a marketable commodity. Water should be considered as a finite natural resource which will be over-exploited if a market based pricing is adopted,” Panda said.