Meghalaya becomes first state to come up with Water Policy to ensure Water Conservation

Meghalaya recently became the first Indian state to ensure water conservation, having its own water conservation policy. The move came after the Meghalaya State Cabinet chaired by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on July 13, 2019 approved the draft State Water Policy.

CM Sangma tweeted about the same, have a look:

The policy will be implemented through the active participation of the community. The state will constitute a 'Water Sanitation Village Council' at the village level for smooth implementation of the policy. The policy lays down the quality check procedures to control the use of groundwater.

The state policy outlines several measures like construction of check dams to conserve rainwater, setting up of rainwater harvesting systems, and proper ways to control improper use of groundwater.

The policy also suggests safety audit of state dams at periodic intervals by the Meghalaya State Dam Safety Organisation (SDSO) to identity the safety risks and mitigate the adverse impacts.

Objective

Meghalaya Water Policy aims to provide safe and hygienic water for various purposes like drinking, domestic, sanitation and livelihood development. The policy recognises water as a common pool resource for all residents of the state.

The draft Water Policy would protect and improve the management of water resources in the state and will involve the entire community.

The policy intends to protect and conserve the catchment areas of water sources like rivers with an aim to avert the degradation of both quantity and quality of these sources.