The government is likely to table on Friday (today) a bill in the provincial assembly on regulating water sources in the province.
Officials in the government and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Thursday said that the water sources law if passed, will require the provincial government to form a water commission within six months.
The commission will be held headed by the K-P chief minister while its members will include the provincial ministers for environment, public health and engineering, agriculture, industry, local government, irrigation and the chief secretary.
The commission will review the available water sources in the province, work to enhance them and coordinate between the different water systems across the province. The commission will further decide on its distribution, determine the use of water resources for domestic, industrial, agricultural and commercial purposes.
It will also be authorised to decide on matters about wildlife in forests and fisheries. In this regard, an advisory committee will be formed and will be headed by a director-general.
A reservoir regulatory authority will also be formed, which will be headed by the additional chief secretary. The authority will have the power of a civil court and will be empowered to take departmental actions against different departments and government agencies.
The commission can task any organization, company or local body with the water supply and drainage responsibilities for an area. The authority will appoint mediators to settle disputes between the water supply agencies and consumers and it will have the power to reverse their decisions.
The authorised body will be responsible for the provision of quality water apart from the power of disconnection, impose a penalty of up to Rs200,000 for misuse of water.
Any area suffering from adverse climatic changes such as drought or floods along with other environmental conditions of the area, the government can declare these areas as "water protection zones".
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2020.
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