Water in Indian Constitution

Water in Indian Constitution

The Constitution of India lays down the legislative and functional jurisdiction of the Union, State and local Governments regarding 'Water'. Under the scheme of the Constitution, 'Water' is basically a State subject and the Union comes in only in the case of inter- state river waters. List II of the Seventh Schedule, dealing with subjects regarding which states have jurisdiction, has the following as Entry 17 :
"Water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power subject to the provisions of Entry 56 of List I Entry 56 of List I (Union list), reads as follows: "Regulation and development of inter- state rivers and river valleys to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union, is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest".
The Constitution has a specific article (Article 262), dealing with adjudication of disputes relating to matters of inter- state rivers or river valleys, which reads as follows:
Article 262 (1): Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication on any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter- state river or river valley.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other Court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in clause (1).
The recent 1992 amendments to the Constitution regarding Panchayats and Municipalities introduced the following entries in the schedules listing the subject-areas in which the State Governments and legislatures may devolve functions to such bodies, so as to make them evolve as local self-governing institutions: In the Eighth Schedule (Part IX) dealing with Panchayats, the subjects, ''Minor irrigation, Water management and Watershed development", "drinking water" and "maintenance of community assets" are listed. In the Twelfth Schedule (Part IX A) dealing with municipalities, the subjects "water supply of domestic, industrial and commercial purposes" is listed. Functional responsibilities are, thus, visualised for local Governments in respect of several aspects of water use.
The two laws enacted by the Union under Article 262 and Entry 56 of List I are the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956 (as amended up to 1980) and the River Boards Act, 1956. In recent years since the Constitution does not have an entry relating to 'Environment', using the residual powers, the Union has enacted laws on environment and control of pollution, which have effect on water use including ground water and its exploitation. A large number of Acts dealing with irrigation, canals and their maintenance, water rates and cess, command area development and maintenance of tanks are in force in each state. Some of the Acts are as old as the 1860s and 70s.
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1. World - Land and Water Resources at a glance

General

A. Sources of Water (Approximate)
Item	Volume (Million BCM)
Salt Water in Oceans	1348
Fresh Water	37.5
B. Sources of Fresh Water (Approximate)
Item	Volume ('000 BCM)
Polar Ice and Glaciers	28200
Ground Water < 800 m deep	3740
800 - 4000 m deep	4710
Lakes and Rivers	127
Others (soil moisture and atmospheric vapors)	704

Land Resources

Land Area (2002)	13068 M. ha.
Arable Land (2003)	1402 M. ha.
Permanent Crops (2003)	138 M. ha.
Permanent Pasture (2003)	343 M. ha.
Forest (2005)	3952 M. ha.

2. India - Land and Water Resources at a glance

A. GENERAL
Geographical area	329 M. ha.
Area as % of world area	2.4 %
Forest cover	20.97 %
Population as on 1.3.2006	1114.2 million
Population as % of world population	17.2 %
Annual rainfall (2005)	1208 mm
Major river basins	12
(catchment area > 20,000 sq. km)	253 M. ha.
Medium River Basins	46
(catchment area < 20,000 sq. km.)	24.6 M. ha.
B. Water Resources
Average annual Precipitation	4000 BCM
Avg. precipitation during Monsoon (Jun-Sept)	3000 BCM
Natural Runoff	1986.5 BCM
Estimated utilizable surface water resources	690 BCM
Total utilizable ground water resources	433 BCM
Total annual utilizable water resources	1123 BCM
Per capita water availablity	1720.29 cum
C. Land Resources
Total cultivable land (2003-04)	183 M. ha.
Ultimate irrigation potential	140 M. ha.
Gross sown area ((2003-04)	190.5 M. ha.
Net sown area (2003-04)	141.0 M. ha.
Gross irrigated area (2003-04)	75.3 M. ha.
Net irrigated area (2003-04)	55.1 M. ha.
Food grain production during 1950-51	50.8 MT
food grain production during 2004-05	198.3 M.T.
D. Hydropower
Hydropower potential assessed (as on 31.03.06)	84044 MW @ 60% LF
Installed capacity (2004-05)	30942 MW
Potential developed as on 31.03.06	16032 MW @60% LF
Potential under development	4714 MW
Large dams completed	4050
Storages in large dams	213 BCM

3. Water Resources Potential in the Major River Basins of India

Sl. No.	Name of the River Basin	Average Annual Potential in the River	Estimated Utilisable Flow (excluding Ground Water)
1	Indus (upto Border)	73.31	46.00
2.	a) Ganga	525.02	250.00
	b) Brahmaputra, Barak and others	585.60	24.00
3.	Godavari	110.54	76.30
4	Krishna	78.12	58.00
5	Cauvery	21.36	19.00
6	Pennar	6.32	6.86
7	East flowing Rivers between Mahanadi & Pennar	22.52	13.11
8	East Flowing Rivers between Pennar  and Kanayakumari	16.46	16.73
9	Mahanadi	66.88	49.99
10	Brahmani & Baitarni	28.48	18.30
11	Subarnarekha	13.37	6.81
12	Sabarmati	3.81	1.93
13	Mahi	11.02	3.10
14	West Flowing Rivers of Kutch, Saurashtra including Luni	15.10	14.98
15	Narmada	45.64	34.50
16	Tapi	14.88	14.50
17	West Flowing Rivers from Tapi to Tadri	87.41	11.94
18	West flowing rivers from Tadri to Kanyakumari	113.53	24.27
19	Area of Island drainage in Rajasthan Desert	Neg	-
	Minor River Basins drainage to Bangladesh & Myanmar	31.00	-
	Total	1869.35	690.32

4. Planwise Outlays and Cumulative Growth in Creation of Irrigation Potential (Major & Medium Projects)

Period	Outlay/ Expenditure (Rs. Crores)	Cumulative Expenditure (Rs. Crore)	Potential created (m.ha.)		Potential Utilized (m.ha)
			During	Cumulative
Pre-plan period	-		9.70	9.70	9.70
I Plan (1951-56	376	376.24	2.50	12.20	12.98
II Plan (1956-61)	380	756.24	2.13	14.33	13.05
III Plan (1961-66)	576	1332.24	2.24	16.57	15.77
Annual Plan (1966-69)	430	1762.05	1.53	18.10	16.75
IV Plan (1969-74)	1242	3005.3	2.60	20.70	18.69
V Plan (1974-78)	2516	5521.5	4.02	24.72	21.16
Annual Plans (1978-80)	2079	7600.10	1.89	26.61	22.62
VI Plan (1980-85)	7369	14968.9	1.09	27.70	23.57
VII Plan (1985-90)	11107	26576.2	2.22	29.92	25.47
Annual Plans (1990-92)	5459	31534.19	0.82	30.74	26.32
VIII Plan (1992-97)	21,072	52606.29	2.22	32.96	28.44
IX Plan (1997-2002)	48259	101896.29	4.09	37.05	31.03
X Plan (2002-2007)	70862*		9.93*	46.98*

      *Provisional      
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