At the same time, a new scheme is being launched to prepare a comprehensive map of the country's aquifers at watershed scale and to create a dense network of observation wells to monitor water levels and groundwater quality across aquifers. Farmers would be involved in data collection and analysis.

The Planning Commission has recommended that State irrigation departments include social mobilisers (social workers and anthropologists) to ensure effective participation of stakeholder farmers from planning to implementation, monitoring to maintenance. It has underscored the need for setting up a National Water Commission to monitor compliance with national water strategy.

Rational pricing of water and electricity would also incentivise moves towards higher productivity per drop of water. With its potential to be India's biggest water security, there is need to reform the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme “which is performing way below potential”.

This and other “new approaches'' were suggested by the Planning Commission in a presentation made before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as part of an “Integrated Action Plan for Sustainable Water Management”. The new approaches would be included in the Approach Paper to the 12th Plan.

Water harvesting

Admitting that the gap between the potential created and that utilised had grown, the Planning Commission has suggested that Command Area Development (CAD) be “tightly linked” to Accelerated Integrated Benefit Programme (AIBP) and not be artificially separated as at present. The CAD should occur simultaneously with dam construction and include revival of traditional water harvesting systems already present in the command. As part of AIBP reforms, focus should be on completion of ongoing projects.

Significantly the Commission presentation, made by Member (Water & Rural Development) Mihir Shah, has suggested that rehabilitation and resettlement be completed six months before submergence.

Norms for completion

A project would be considered completed only when all distributaries, minors and field channels were done and Water Users Associations were in place.

An agriculture improvement programme focused on improving water use efficiency and water saving technology would be mandatory for each project.

“Given all the problems facing large dams in India, there is a strong case for higher priority to watershed management”, the Commission said.

The meeting was attended among others by Union Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and secretaries of the departments concerned. It was agreed to form 12 sub-committees to work on the suggestions. The Prime Minister is reported to have approved the presentation.