In a first, J&K owns state water sources

The J&K assembly has passed legislation making the state government the owner of all water resources in the state. With the passing of this law, the usage of water in any commercial form will be charged.

The J&K assembly has passed legislation making the state government the owner of all water resources in the state. With the passing of this law, the usage of water in any commercial form will be charged.

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The Water Resources Maintenance and Regulatory Act, 2010, came into force on November 11. With this Act, the government intends to raise its biggest chunk of revenue — R 855 crore— annually from hydel projects alone. It has nine hydel projects. The National Hydel Project Corporation (NHPC) operates six and the state-owned Power Development Corporation (PDC) three.

“The state has a huge potential for hydel projects. They use state resource (water) to generate profit without paying us. This can’t be allowed and for this, we enacted an Act,” minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din said.