Appointment of Chairperson, Member of JKWRRA
*Functioning of vital Authority remains crippled
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 31: The process for the appointment of new Chairperson and a Member of the Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources Regulatory Authority (JKWRRA), which was initiated nearly a year ago, has not yet reached its logical conclusion, thereby hampering the functioning of the vital body.
As per the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, the Water Resources Regulatory Authority is required to have one Chairperson and three Members to function effectively.
However, for quite long time now, there are only two Members, one of whom has been given charge of the post of the Chairperson while two positions that of substantive Chairperson and one Member continue to remain vacant.
In pursuance of the relevant provisions of the J&K Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, 2010 and Rules framed thereunder, the Jal Shakti Department, vide notice dated June 29, 2024, invited applications from eligible and interested persons to fill the vacant posts in the Authority.
A time-frame of 15 days was fixed for the receipt of applications from the interested individuals meeting the prescribed eligibility criteria. It was specified that for the post of Chairperson, individuals currently holding or having held a position not below the rank of Principal Secretary to the Government were eligible provided they possessed adequate knowledge of, experience in, or demonstrated capacity for dealing with matters related to engineering, finance, commerce, economics, law, administration or management.
Likewise, for the post of Member, it was specified that individuals of ability, integrity and standing possessing adequate knowledge of, or experience in, or demonstrated capacity for dealing with matters related to engineering, finance, commerce, economics, law or management were eligible provided they were holding or had held a post not below the rank of Chief Engineer and possessed qualifications and experience in the field of Hydraulic Engineering.
On January 10, 2025, the Jal Shakti Department issued notice mentioning that last date for submission of application forms for the vacant positions of J&K Water Resources Regulatory Authority has been extended up to January 31, 2025. However, other terms and conditions as notified vide notice dated June 29, 2024 were kept the same.
“However, the process, which was initiated in June last year, has not yet reached its logical conclusion despite a good number of applications being received for both posts by the Jal Shakti Department”, official sources told EXCELSIOR. As a result, the functioning of the vital Regulatory Authority continues to remain crippled.
“The Authority can take vital decisions only when it has full quorum, which is currently not available”, they further said, adding “in the absence of a full quorum, the Authority is also unable to define new Water Tariff resulting in the extension of the 2021 Water Tariff year after year”.
“Some officials in the Authority, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “recently, only tender has been floated for engagement of a consultant to assess the operational cost of the water supply system and provide recommendations for determining new Water Tariff”.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Authority is supposed to determine the entitlement and distribution for various categories of use of water within each category and the terms and conditions of distribution or allocation; fix the priority for equitable distribution of water available at the resource, project, sub-basin and river basin levels during periods of scarcity; regulate use of water by the users and licensees from all water sources; advise the Government in the promotion of competition for the optimum utilization of water resources; administer and manage inter-State water resources apportionment on river systems and approve and review water resources schemes and projects etc.
“Moreover, Regulatory Authority is required to focus on research and policy planning for the assistance of administrators and engineers in their day-to-day work pertaining to various activities and functions in the PHE and irrigation sectors”, sources said.
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