Encroachment on water sources will be considered a crime: CM
   Date :18-Sep-2019

 
Staff Reporter :
 
CM’s holds meeting with expert committee on Right to Water Act
 
 
Chief Minister Kamal Nath has said that all encroachments on rivers, ponds and other water sources of the State will be strictly removed. He said that encroachment on water sources would be considered a crime. CM was doing discussion with members of the committee of water experts constituted for the Right to Water Act at the Mantralaya on Tuesday.
 
CM said that the draft of Right to Water Act should be prepared soon so that it can be introduced in the Winter Session of the Legislative Assembly. The meeting was attended by Chairman of Expert Committee Dr Mihir Shah, and Co-Chairman and Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh. He said that general public has the right over water.
 
Therefore, encroachment on it cannot be tolerated at all. He said that whoever encroaches on the sources of water, will be considered a criminal. He said that small water structures should be built in place of large structures. This will save people from being evicted from their ancestral land, property and village. He said that during his visit to Siberia, he noticed that there is large scale cultivation in the whole of Siberia but no dams were built to irrigate it, but people irrigated their land through ponds and small water structures. We should also use this technique.
 
This will avoid unnecessary disputes. CM said that people should be given the right to manage and use water. He asked to pay special attention to prevent and conserve water. He said that while constructing water structures, we should also take suggestions from villagers as they are more aware and also have experience. During the meeting, Chairman of Water Expert Committee Dr Mihir Shah and Co-Chairman Rajendra Singh apprised the Chief Minister with their views and suggestions regarding the Right to Water Act. Chief Secretary S R Mohanty, Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development, Gauri Singh, Principal Secretary, Public Health Engineering, Sanjay Shukla and Expert Committee Member Dr Himanshu Kulkarni, P S Vijay Shankar, Sachin Ojha, Liby Johnson, Dr Philip Kulet, Dr Sundarajan Krishnan, Jitendra Agrawal, Dr R K Nema and Dr D K Pahalwan were present in the meeting.