Water policy to be revised soon; China and Bangladesh to not attend international water week

New Delhi: The revision of the national water policy will likely be taken up soon with the new minister to resolve outstanding issues, said water resources secretary Debashree Mukherjee on the sidelines of an event on Monday.

The government decided to revise the National Water Policy 2012, which is in force, back in 2021 to address challenges in the water sector, and a drafting committee was constituted. However, due to some bottlenecks, the draft has not come out yet.

“There were some issues related to revision of the National Water Policy 2012. We will take it up with the new minister to look at the way forward,” Mukherjee said during the curtain raiser of the 8th edition of the International Water Week between 17-21 September.

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This planned revision comes amid extreme weather events due to climate change and depleting groundwater levels. As per a World Bank study, water scarcity can erode India's economic growth to the tune of 6% of GDP by 2050.

The National water Policy serves several purposes, including water management and conservation, addressing water scarcity, improving disaster resilience, and providing water to vulnerable communities. To serve these purposes, the government has schemes such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation, Jal Jeevan Mission, Jal Shakti Abhiyan, and National Water Mission.

China, Bangladesh refrain

The official also said China and Bangladesh will not attend the international water week events in India. Bangladesh was supposed to join but given the current political situation there, it will not attend. However, four foreign ministers and officials from 40 countries, including Denmark, Guyana, Singapore, Vietnam, Morocco and Zimbabwe, will attend and participate in deliberations.

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Representatives of the World Water Council, World Bank and Asian Development Bank will also attend. Stakeholders will discuss solutions and are expected to come up with innovations and partnerships to address the issue of water crisis amid changing monsoon rain patterns and climate change.