Cong plans meet on water resources

The Congress had created a furore after the controversial Bill piloted by Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare (NCP) — a protégé of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar — was bulldozed in the thinly attended Assembly in the dead of the night on April 13. Subsequently,when the Bill was introduced in the legislative council,the Congress had suggested amendments and returned it to the Assembly for approval. The amendments bestowed powers of water distribution to the Cabinet,not the water resources minister,thereby sabotaging the NCP’s attempt to gain total control over water resources.

“We have called it paani parishad (water conference) and we are going to discuss all aspects of water distribution,” Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre,who is from Yavatmal,told The Indian Express on Friday. “The idea is to evolve a policy in this regard… While suggesting amendments to the water resources Bill in the Council,I had asked for a white paper from the state government on water distribution… This conference would be a precursor to it.”

He pointed out that the conclave would focus in evolving a policy for distributing water in the Vidarbha region.

Incidentally,the Congress had vehemently opposed the Bill because the party has huge stakes in Vidarbha,unlike the NCP that has a negligible presence in the region and hence,has nothing to lose. Vidarbha is a stronghold of the Congress (which won 24 of the 62 Assembly seats in the 2009 polls) and the BJP (that won 21 seats). The NCP could win only four.

The Congress leaders were jittery that they would invite the wrath of farmers,their voters in the region. The NCP has a stronghold in Western Maharashtra,which happens to be the best irrigated region in the state. The Congressmen view the scuttling of the Bill as a major victory over the NCP as it was seen as a ploy to help industries in the region by diverting water meant for irrigation for industrial use.