NEW DELHI: A draft model bill proposing to set up an Integrated Water Resources Management Authority which will be responsible for developing water security plans from villages to cities, groundwater management and floodplain management has been circulated among the states, a senior official said on Tuesday.Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Department of Water Resources, said that to achieve water security as part of the vision for Viksit Bharat, the government has proposed the Integrated Water Resources Management Authority (IWRM) at the state level, which will coordinate and integrate efforts of multiple water-related departments and agencies.”A draft model Bill has been circulated to all the states. This state IWRM authority, under the overall supervision of an IWRM council headed by chief minister, has been vested with various regulatory powers to set the direction of water sector development,” he said at the inaugural session of the 10th Water Innovation Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and CII-Triveni Water Institute.”It will be responsible for developing water security plans from villages and cities to districts and state level, groundwater management, floodplain management and river conservation zones,” Verma said.The official said a new draft National Water Data Policy is another significant step in this direction. The ministry of Jal Shakti also has a national strategy for accelerating innovation in the water sector.”This policy aims to make innovation a driving force for transformational change in the water sector to achieve water security for all. Its mission is to create open collaboration opportunities and enabling platforms for public-private partnerships across the water sector to drive innovation,” he said.Verma also said there is a need for achieving better efficiency in the industrial use of water. “About 40 billion cubic meters of water is used in industrial areas of the country. The water use efficiency in Indian industries continues to be much lower as compared to developed countries. There is considerable scope available for improved water use efficiency,” he added.Speaking at the event, Kimmo Lahdevirta, Ambassador of Finland to India, talked about the integrated water management strategy in his country.”We have achieved good results due to long-term capacity building and good governance, accompanied by cooperation between the public and private sectors and also the active participation of both civil society and local stakeholders. Finland is now in a unique position to provide sustainable water solutions for our partners worldwide,” he said.Lahdevirta stressed on recycling waste water and said India recycles only 30 percent of its waste water and that most of the installed sewage treatment plants are not in an active condition.”It results in a bulk of India’s urban sewage systems flowing into rivers and lakes. India’s urban areas are lacking properly financed or designed waste-water recycling infrastructure,” he said.Nikhil Sawhney, Chairman, CII-Triveni Water Institute, highlighted that by 2050, an estimated four billion people will live in water-stressed areas and 1.6 billion people will be exposed to floods.”Ensuring water availability and adequate quantity and quality of water is enshrined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 6, that talks about sustainably reducing the number of people suffering from water scarcity by 2030,” he said.”That is just around the corner, and we see that problem only exacerbating. Against this backdrop, it is important to advance new thinking, forge new partnerships, and collaborate for inclusive growth,” Sawhney added.He said the Water Institute is a nationally accredited institute for undertaking water audits with a team of over 40 water auditors certified by the Central Groundwater Authority, Ministry of Jal Shakti.”As of now, over 500 water audits have been conducted across sectors and this has resulted in identifying potential fresh water savings of over 400 billion litres,” Sawhney added.
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