Resource detail

The policy seeks to address issues such as the scarcity of water, inequities in its distribution and the lack of a unified perspective in planning, management and use of water resources. The policy proposes an overarching national legal framework of general principles on water that can used by states to draft their own legislation on water governance. India has more than 17 per cent of the world‟s population, but has only 4% of world‟s renewable water resources with 2.6% of world‟s land area. There are further limits on utilizable quantities of water owing to uneven distribution over time and space. Low consciousness about the scarcity of water and its life sustaining and economic value results in its mismanagement, wastage, and inefficient use, as also pollution and reduction of flows below minimum ecological needs. In addition, there are inequities in distribution and lack of a unified perspective in planning, management and use of water resources. The objective of the National Water Policy is to take cognizance of the existing situation, to propose a framework for creation of a system of laws and institutions and for a plan of action with a unified national perspective.