“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.”
– Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Water is the fundamental pillar of life and in the status quo where only 3% of the world’s water is safe to drink, it is now time to wake up and start rescuing the pillar in danger. By this year two-thirds of the world’s population will be at risk of exposure to water scarcity and the ecosystem all over the world will have to deteriorate further.[1]
Some countries will have to undergo harder repercussions of this issue of water shortage including many parts of India and Asia and many countries of Africa due to the lack of infrastructure and availability of potable water. The dearth of clean water will bring several issues with it like the escalation of diseases, indigent sanitation, increase in food deficit, and brunt on the agricultural sector.[2] This will also attract the concern of water inequality which is the inadmissible distribution of water due to social stratification which will lead to worsening global poverty and can pose an ongoing challenge to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[3]
Consequently, the government’s intervention to address this compelling issue of water scarcity and implement effective water conservation has become a necessity. The interference of the legislative can be impactful because it can carry out policies, schemes, and legislations that can be enforced on a large scale and can mobilize resources accordingly on the other wing of government, the judiciary can mandate the standards required for practical conservancy through means of landmark judgments and issuing orders and guidelines.
The constitution of India has realized that water is crucial for the economic growth of its citizens and also for their well-being. So, to conserve water and to prevent it from contamination water laws are introduced in our country. Water law in India is there in various constitutional provisions. Specifically, in the cases like State of Karnataka vs State of Andhra Pradesh, the court stated that “There is no dispute that under the constitutional scheme in our country right to water is a right to life and thus a fundamental right”[4], moreover, article 252(1) of our constitution empowers the state to legislate on any water-related matter which can be on any kind of water storage.
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 – It is an Indian environmental legislation that aims to prevent and control water pollution and to maintain and restore the wholesomeness of the water resources, under this act pollution limits were established which prohibits discharging of pollutant in the water bodies after a limit If this act was violated penalties were imposed ranging from 10,000 – 15 lakhs.
Under sections 3 and 4 of this act, the Central and State Pollution Control Boards have been constituted and their duty is to monitor the water bodies and are responsible for planning comprehensive programs for the prevention, control, and abatement of pollution of water bodies.[5] The act also mandates that the industry that is discharging effluents should gain consent from the relevant pollution control board.
Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA): It was established in 1997 under sub-section (3) of section 3 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, and has been vested with the responsibility to regulate and control groundwater management and development.[6] If any industry, if they want to draw groundwater for any project, they need to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from this authority.
The authority exercises its power under section 5 of the act for issuing directions and taking measures. The authority can appoint officers under section 4 of the act.[7] The authority has also been conferred with the power to resort to penal provisions contained in sections 15-21 of the said act.
Model Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Act, 2016: The act is a proposed legislation that aims to achieve sustainable management of groundwater resources. It focuses on restoring groundwater resources and to provide sufficient quality of groundwater to both rural and urban population[8]. The key objective of this act is to conserve and regulate groundwater sustainably. Also, it seeks to ensure the realization of the fundamental right to life through water provision which meets basic human needs. It also advocates for an integrated approach combining groundwater management with surface water management.[9] Another main feature of this act is that it provides for the demarcation of the groundwater protection zones to safeguard these resources from overexploitation. This act is an efficient act and this kind of legislation should be implemented.
Jal Jeevan Mission: The vision of this scheme is every rural household should have a drinking water supply in adequate quantity and on a regular basis at affordable services which will improve the living standard of rural communities. The main mission is to assist, empower, and facilitate State/UTs for the creation of water supply infrastructure so that every rural household will have a Functional Tap Connection (FHTC) by 2024[10]. Also, it supports the State/UTS in planning of participatory rural water supply strategy for ensuring potable drinking water security on a long-term basis to every rural household and public institution, viz. GP buildings, Schools, Anganwadi centers, Health centers, wellness centers, etc. The broader objective of this mission is to prioritize the provision of FHTC in quality-affected areas, villages in drought-prone and desert areas, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), etc.
There are also many components that are supported under this scheme and one of them is it supports activities like IEC, HRD, training, development of utilities, water quality laboratories, water quality testing & surveillance, R&D, knowledge center, and capacity building of communities. This scheme by providing drinking water to the rural communities is helping in water conservation.
Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal): The scheme was launched on December 25, 2019 is implemented in 8562 gram panchayats of 80 districts in 7 states namely Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.[11]. This scheme aims to manage the groundwater through local community participation.
Apart from the groundwater management, the main objective of this scheme is to bring behavioral changes in the people at the grass root level for which data for water availability has been used to make water security plans and these plans are made with the active participation of the local communities and to further improvise these data various instruments like water level sounders and rain gauge is being used. This scheme will be fully implemented in 2025.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan: The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2019 in 256 water-stressed districts of the country. Further in 2021 Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain with the theme Catch the Theme – where it Falls, When It Falls was launched which nudged the states to create Rain Water Harvesting Structures and it has become an annual feature since 2021[12].
In 2024 the theme of this scheme is “Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti” and this will highlight the crucial role played by women in the field of water conservation it will focus on a few targets like water conservation and rainwater harvesting, setting up Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts and apart for this main aim will be de-siting and cleaning of water bodies and revitalizing abandoned water bodies for groundwater recharge. So, this scheme is an effective scheme that covers every way through which water conservation can be done.
The first and paramount case in relation is Subhash Kumar vs State Of Bihar And Ors (1991)[13], in which the Hon’ble Apex Court affirmed:
“Right to life is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and it includes the right of enjoyment of pollution free water and air for full enjoyment of life. If anything endangers or impairs that quality of life in derogation of laws, a citizen has right to have recourse to Article 32 of the Constitution for removing the pollution of water or air which may be detrimental to the quality of life.”
This landmark case has broadened the purview of Article 21 to include the right to clean water and empowers an individual to approach the Supreme Court or the High Court in Case of Infringement.
In Re M.C. Mehta vs Union Of India & Ors (1987)[14], the Supreme Court held in the series of orders that:
“discharging of the trade effluents from the tannery to the river Ganga would be immense and it will outweigh any inconvenience that may be caused to the management and the labour employed by it on account of its closure”
In a series of orders, this judgment gave weightage to the issue of pollution of the River Ganga rather than the financial losses to industries and gave the “polluter pays” principle that entrenched the duty of industries and municipalities to protect vital water resources like the Ganga.
To conclude, it would be apt to cite the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s statement given in the judgment of M.C. Mehta vs Union Of India & Others on 22 September, 1987 “No law or authority can succeed in removing the pollution unless the people cooperate.”
[1] World Wildlife Fund, ‘Water Scarcity’ (World Wildlife Fund) https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity accessed 4 April 2025.
[2] Annie Button, ‘Understanding the Importance of Water Conservation’ (Earth.Org, 14 July 2023) https://earth.org/understanding-the-importance-of-water-conservation/ accessed 5 April 2025.
[3] Pius Babuna and others, ‘Modeling water inequality and water security: The role of water governance’ (2023) 326(Part B) Journal of Environmental Management 116815 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116815 accessed 5 April 2025.
[4] State of Karnataka v State of Andhra Pradesh (2000) 3 SCC 571 (SC)
[5] The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 (India)
[6] Central Ground Water Authority, ‘Ground Water Regulation’ (Central Ground Water Board) https://cgwb.gov.in/en/ground-water-regulation accessed 1 April 2025.
[7] The Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (India)
[8] Philippe Cullet, Groundwater Law in India: Towards a Framework Ensuring Equitable Access and Aquifer Protection (IELRC 2016) https://www.ielrc.org/content/e1605.pdf accessed 1 April 2025.
[9] Dr Chandreshwari Minhas, ‘An Overview of Water Laws in India with Special Emphasis on Groundwater Laws’ (HPNLU) https://www.hpnlu.ac.in/PDF/2f6965dc-980c-4927-8e1b-a0b60bc7dee2.pdf accessed 1 April 2025.
[10] Ministry of Jal Shakti, ‘About JJM’ (Jal Jeevan Mission) https://jaljeevanmission.gov.in/about_jjm accessed 3 April 2025.
[11] Press Information Bureau, ‘Central Government Constitutes a Committee to Draft National Water Policy’ (PIB, 5 July 2022) https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1843394 accessed 3 April 2025.
[12] Ministry of Jal Shakti, ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ (JSACTR) https://jsactr.mowr.gov.in/ accessed 3 April 2025.
[13] Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar (1991) 1 SCC 598.
[14] MC Mehta v Union of India (1987) 4 SCC 463.
Author : Ojasvi Jaiswal (24BAL059) and Jaideep Purohit (24BAL022)