To make the urban water mission work, fix institutional structures
The government’s 2021-22 budget announcement of the Jal Jeevan Mission-Urban (JJM-U), with an outlay of ₹2.87 lakh crore, over five years, rightly addresses the huge gap in water supply and sewage infrastructure in cities. However, it is not enough to deliver long-term water sustainability across urban India. A 2018 NITI Aayog report estimates that, one, by 2030, the urban water deficit will stand at almost half of the projected demand and, two, 21 major cities will run out of groundwater in the immediate future. Water sustainability is vital for resilient and healthy cities. With unprecedented urbanisation projected over the next 30 years, the government must expand its focus from infrastructure provision to the comprehensive management of urban water to ensure sustainable urban growth and enhanced quality of life of millions of city-dwellers.
There are, however, two key barriers. One, our statutory and administrative frameworks, including the National Water Policy 2012 (NWP), do not recognise cities as a unit of planning for integrated water management even though cities continue to be the biggest consumers of water and the biggest contributors of pollution in a watershed. The current hydrology-based basin-level approach misses a critical element of urban governance that is directly linked to municipal jurisdictions, mandates, and organisational structures. Two, over time, we have compartmentalised water into distinct entities (potable water, groundwater, stormwater, ponds and lakes) — each with distinct custodians (if at all) and distinct planning and management objectives. Moreover, integrated planning and management of water (including natural water resources) do not feature as a mandate in the municipal Acts. As a result, departmental priorities, targets, and budgetary provisions for the same do not exist.
JJM-U provides a unique opportunity to remedy this through strategic enabling statutory, administrative, and institutional reforms coordinated across scales — national, state, and city. A national-level mandate for Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) in cities is necessary. IUWM is a globally accepted approach that integrates the elements of the urban water cycle — source management, water supply, sanitation, stormwater management, sewage treatment and its reuse, solid waste management — with the city’s urban development to maximise economic, social, and environmental benefits in an equitable manner (World Bank 2012).
For this, NWP, currently under review, must emphasise the need for IUWM at the city level. Although NWP recommends devolution of authority to the lower tiers of government, it does not set out how. The revised NWP must also stress the need for preparing city Water Master Plans as a key planning tool and statutory mechanism for implementation of IUWM and its integration with city planning processes.
JJM-U must also incentivise the preparation of WMPs by making this a pre-condition for cities seeking financial assistance under the scheme. The right institutional mechanism is equally essential. An Integrated Urban Water Management Authority (IUWMA) should be created under the state water resources department in all millionplus cities with representation from all city agencies and stakeholders to facilitate more coordinated planning and implementation of sustainable urban water management. IUWMA should be backed by legislation and a model Act should be prepared to assist this process. In smaller cities, an integrated urban water management department should be created within municipal corporations/ municipalities.
Necessary amendments to the municipal Act should be made to add IUWM to the list of existing municipal functions. To ensure efficacy, WMPs need adopting as a statutory document at the city level and integrated with the city development plans/city master plans. The JJMU must create the enabling framework for IUWM, moving a step closer to creating cities that are resilient and healthy.
PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar inducted 17 new ministers into his cabinet on Tuesday ahead of the Budget session of the legislature, heralding a generational shift by making room for several new faces in the coalition between his Janata Dal (United), or JD (U), and the Bharatiya Janata Prty (BJP).
Governor Phagu Chouhan administered the oath of office to the new ministers – nine from the BJP and eight from the JD (U) – in a ceremony at Raj Bhawan. The exercise took the strength of the Nitish Kumar cabinet to 30, with six berths still vacant. The portfolio distribution also showed the impact of induction of 11 new faces in the cabinet, with several key departments going to first-time ministers.
Former Union minister and BJP national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain, who was recently elected to the Bihar legislative council, was the first to be sworn in, and was followed by JD (U)’s Shravan Kumar and Madan Sahni. Many new ministers were dressed in their regional attire and took the oath of office in their local dialects.
Nitish Kumar, deputy CMs Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi, speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, legislative council chairman Avadhesh Narayan Singh, Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi and a host of other leaders were present. Leader of the Opposition Tejaswhi Yadav was not present. He is in Delhi, said a party colleague on condition of anonymity.
The JD (U)-BJP alliance retained power in the October November elections, defeating a coalition of Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left parties.
What was significant about the cabinet expansion, which happened after 84 days after the government was sworn in, was an evident preference for youth. Several BJP politicians, for instance, have become firsttime ministers.
Leaders like Prem Kumar and Nand Kishore Yadav, who were part of all previous NDA governments, have not found a place this time. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has been sent to the Rajya Sabha.
From the last cabinet, BJP has retained only two ministers– Mangal Pandey and Pramod Kumar.
From the JD (U) quota, Sumit Singh, who won election from Chakai as an independent candidate and extended support to the Nitish Kumar party, and Jama Khan, who won as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from Chainpur, but recently joined JD (U), have been accommodated in the cabinet.
Khan is the lone Muslim face from the JD (U) in the cabinet Sumit Singh is the youngest at age 31.
Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal said the cabinet expansion would accelerate Bihar’s economic development.
“Talent has been given preference and social and regional balance have been kept in mind. A generational change should happen and it is quite natural,” he added.
FORMER UNION MINISTER AND BJP NATIONAL SPOKESMAN SHAHNAWAZ HUSSAIN WAS THE FIRST TO BE SWORN IN