With the country struggling to keep its rivers and lakes clean, the Environment Ministry has come up with a draft proposal which gives states the option of raising money by levying user charges.In the 50th Steering Committee meeting of the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD), which was held today, the Ministry has put forward a draft proposal to all states that involves the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure enough infrastructure is in place to prevent untreated sewage and urban waste from flowing into rivers.‘‘The MoU is meant to ensure that the projects run after the setting up of the STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants),’’ said Environment Secretary Dr Prodipto Ghosh. The MoU aims to meet the objectives of pollution abatement schemes under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP).Sources said that these STPs are not operational in a lot of states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where they have been set up. The user charge will raise funds and get people interested in conserving lakes and rivers through awareness generation programmes.‘‘The concept behind the user charge is that those who use the facility have to pay for it. It’s a basic principal of public finance. People in cities enjoy the service of a sewage treatment plant. And their responsibility is not to pollute a river,’’ said Ghosh.Another suggestion made was to have a Central cess, he added.According to agenda notes placed before the steering committee, states can consider exploring other means of raising resources for capital expenditure by levying surcharge on property tax, stamp duty, etc. Among other suggestions for generating funds are development of riverfronts for tourism and levying user charges, sale of sludge, generation of power from bio-gas in sewage treatment plants. Under the NRCP schemes, states pay 30 per cent, while the Centre pays 70 per cent of the costs.‘‘Within 15 days, the states will give us written comments. The draft will be revised. And then we will invite state representatives and experts from institutions like IITs for a discussion,’’ said Ghosh. The pre-requisites of the draft MoU proposal is that the state’s share of capital, operational and management costs will have to be deposited in the project account and the actual release of funds will be performance and target-based.
