Water resources regulator on a slippery wicket

In reply to a query about the work done for equitable distribution by the MWRRA,the RTI reply said: “The equitable distribution of water for irrigation is being achieved through the implementation of the Entitlement Program undertaken by the Authority in association with water resources department of Government of Maharashtra.” It added that 227 of the 236 projects and 1,033 of the 1,514 water users’ association had been covered till date under the programme.

On the monitoring of the entitlement programme,the reply said the authority got it done through “independent third party regulators”.

A recent study by the Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM) found out that the independence of the authority was compromised right from the beginning. “Other than the fact that the body is manned by former bureaucrats,the selection process is also controlled by a body comprising secretaries of several ministries. This compromises the independence of the authority,” said K Joy,senior researcher at SOPPECOM.

“Regulation and enforcement of entitlements are done by a regulator appointed in each project at an appropriate level who is expected to do random checks during water rotations. The regulator who belongs to a different subdivision of the same irrigation system is unlikely to give an independent and critical remark. Settling of entitlement disputes,another of MWRRA’s critical functions,is done by a Primary Dispute Resolution Officer (PDRO). As per the GR7,the PDROs are: chief engineer concerned with major projects; superintending engineer concerned with medium projects; and the executive engineer concerned with minor projects,indicating that the entire regulatory and enforcement functions are performed by the administration. Not only do the administrative interferences continue,but political pressures too are not uncommon. Continuation of the High Powered Committee until recently and its decisions related to water allocations even after MWRRA was formed undermines MWRRA’s ‘independent’ role. Thus it neither has operational independence nor the freedom to operationalise its original mandate,” the report stated.

Joy added that the official website of the authority had also not been functioning for some time.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Parineeta Dandekar of South Asia Network of Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP),who said the non-transparent functioning of the body had been objected to for a long time now. “Since 2007,organisations like SANDRP have been pointing out that lack of any sort of people’s participation is a big problem with MWRRA. It has been amply demonstrated in this set-up,” she said.