NEW DELHI, March 5 - A high-level committee for management of water resources in the North Eastern region has recommended establishment of a basin-level authority in the name and style of the North Eastern Water Management Authority (NEWMA).
Recommendations and findings by the committee to tackle the problem of flood and erosion in Assam also include immediate, short-term and medium-term action points emphasising on integrated water resource management covering all aspects of water resources. However, water being a State subject, the responsibility of its development and management, including flood and erosion management, lies with the State Government.
The Central Government provides technical and promotional assistance to the State Government proposals as per their priority and resources, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria said in reply to a Lok Sabha question by BJP MP Pallab Lochan Das.
The high-level committee for management of water resources in the North Eastern region was constituted by the Ministry of DoNER under the chairmanship of the NITI Aayog Vice Chairman in October, 2017. The terms of reference of the committee included appraisal of the existing institutional arrangements for management of water resources in the North Eastern region, identification of gaps in the existing arrangement of water resources, suggesting policy intervention, spelling out actionable measures and chalking out plan of action for dovetailing of schemes/programmes of Union ministries and State governments.
