The State Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the framework for the conservation and management of river basins in Kerala.
The apex committee, the Kerala River Basin Conservation and Management Authority, will be chaired by the Chief Minister.
The panel will have as its members the Ministers for Water Resources, Industries, Revenue, Power, Forest, Finance, Local Self-Government, Agriculture, Environment, Fisheries, Public Works and Tourism, the Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Board, and the Chief Secretary. The Additional Chief Secretary (Water Resources) will be the convener.
The Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary (Water Resources) will head the steering committee and the technical committee respectively.
The authority is aimed at the overall improvement of water resources management in the State. The new framework is expected to usher in efficiency in the management of resources, stringent monitoring and assessment and a multidimensional administrative mechanism.
Basin-level panels
Apart from the apex committee, there will also be basin-level panels. In the case of river basins covering multiple districts, the Collector of the district commanding the largest area under a river basin will chair the basin-level committee. The Collectors of the other districts will be co-chairs in this panel.
The 14th Five Year Plan of the State had underscored the importance of having an effective institutional mechanism for river basin management. Outcomes from such a mechanism include basin plans for all river systems, optimal utilisation of water resources, monitoring of water quality, climate change-related measures and sustainable development of water resources.
Efficiency in river basin management had assumed greater significance for Kerala following the 2018 and 2019 floods.