Maharashtra Irrigation Act 1976: No rules framed for 48 yrs, water expert writes to CM

“The MIA 76 came into force on January 1, 1977. Enacting a law is not sufficient. The operative part, which includes rules, notifications, agreements, government resolutions, orders & circulars as per the new Act is also equally important. If the operative part is not in place, then the Act remains on paper for all practical purposes,” said Purandare.

In 2014, Purandare approached the high court with a PIL seeking the same. The court order dated August 5, 2015, said, “Respondent State is called upon to file a reply and specify the time frame required for finalisation, approval and publication of the rules. Affidavit shall be presented within four weeks from today.”

The committee was constituted by the government to prepare the Draft Rules and it submitted the report on July 28, 2015. “The Rules, however, have not yet been published, even after almost nine years,” Purandare said, adding that he has now written to Fadnavis seeking his intervention.

“The obvious result is there is no water governance. Free for all situations exist. Water theft, vandalism & tampering with the canal system are rampant. Offences go unpunished. Irrigators, particularly the tail enders neither get water nor compensation. Politically influential irrigators grab all the benefits,” Purandare said.

While Deepak Kapoor, ACS, water resources department, did not reply on a query regarding this, sources within the department said that the government has brought Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act, 2005 and the rules of this act have been formed.

“The argument that the rules of the old act have not been framed isn’t wrong. But now, the validity of the old act itself can be questioned since the MWRRA Act, 2005 has been formed with rules. It deals with water tariff, has set up a semi-judicial body for inter-district and inter-project water allocation disputes, reviewing and clearing projects, etc.,” an official from WRD said.