Dams safety law being drafted: Bansal

"The dams safety law is being made," he told reporters here.

He also said the national water policy would be out within one or two months.

Quoting Indian Met Department, Bansal said that monsoon had recovered since last week and between June-September period, the country should receive about 96 per cent of rainfall it usually receives.

Amid inter-state disputes in water sharing, members of a Parliamentary committee have favoured the idea of putting water in the Concurrent List to help the Centre have a greater say in settling feuds, Bansal said, adding across party lines the members were almost unanimous on the issue. Water is a state subject now.

He also favoured a standing tribunal to resolve water disputes between the states. Bansal also made a mention of the aquifer mapping project.

Central Ground Water Board under Ministry of Water Resources had recently signed a contract with Council of Scientific Industrial Research to implement the pilot project on "Aquifer characterisation using advanced geophysical techniques in representative hydro-geological terrains of India".

Bansal said that falling water table levels in many parts of the country was an area of concern.

Advocating judicious use of water, Bansal said per capita availability of water has gone down by about one-third since Independence.