Special water management cell formed

The government has set up a special cell in the water resources ministry to attract private investment in water management and to fine tune the national water policy.

The cell would encourage the private sector to come up with innovative projects in the water sector, water resources minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said at the inauguration of a water summit on public-private partnership for water conservation and management here today.

He said it was high time that the private sector came forward and joined hands in development of water resources, particularly in the field of rainwater harvesting and watershed management.

Observing that the national water policy needed a fresh look, Dasmunshi said the visionary part of the policy document did not touch on areas like conservation, in-built mechanism to promote rain water harvesting and watershed management. He said he would be discussing the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) members.

Stating that water management was being taken up in a big way by the private sector in the developed world, he said the state of private sector participation in the field of water resources was not very encouraging in the country.

"It is necessary that industrial houses which are producing bottled drinking water or soft drinks should strictly adhere to the standards laid for the same," he said.

He said if industrial houses make an aggressive campaign and plan to set up role models in respective states for rain water harvesting, it would be highly appreciated.

Water resources secretary V K Duggal said that industries could focus on promoting drinking water supply, rain water harvesting and recharge of ground water.