From Atreyee Majumder, International Environmental Law Research Centre, New Delhi
Posted 8 February 2008

I am a legal researcher working for the I nternational Environmental Law Research Centre, New Delhi ( http://www.ielrc.org ). As part of our project on legal reforms in the water sector (in the context of privatisation of water), I am looking to put together a case study on the implementation model of the Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority Act (MWRRA) (http://www.mahagovid.org/downloads/MWRRA.pdf (Size: 115 KB)

The MWRRA is one of the first legal instruments to institute an Independent Regulatory Authority in the water sector. The economic logic behind having such a system in place is quite simple, the 'scarce' and 'valuable' source that is water, will end up being allocated to the 'highest value user' which will ensure efficiency of use. The MWRRA is one of the pilot statutes instituting a regulatory body (for regulation of private actors) in irrigation, and the model it represents (involving tradeable water rights) is one that requires scrutiny in its implementation for it has the potential to become the pr ototype for such legislations in all other states. The relevant enactment as far as WUAs are concerned in Maharashtra is the Maharashtra Management of Irrigation Systems by Farmers Act, 2005. This Act translates into the largely discretionary power to 'mak e and break WUAs,’ also regulating what might be considered as certain 'service delivery' components with regard to irrigation. This situation begs the question whether this is not compounding the constitutional impropriety generated by the WUAs not functi oning through existing PRIs, by not consulting or involving these institutions in this regulatory process (and thus violating the 73 rd Amendment in spirit).

I am trying to gather responses from organizations in Maharashtra, who encounter as part of their work any aspect of this Act, be it irrigation, water management, panchayat administration, land -related work, poverty alleviation programmes. Other than the legal critique, I look forward to reactions from grassroots NGOs across States working on various aspects of water and agriculture, reactions from Panchayats in various States to get a sense of potential social/economic impacts of such an Authority which is likely to be affecting WUAs, panchayat administration, access to water for marginal sections.

I therefore request members of the SE -Water community to share the following for incorporation into this critical review:

• Experiences of grassroots NGOs and Panchayats working with/in/in relation to Water User Associations on participatory irrigation management
• Experiences of NGOs/panchayats on the functioning of the MWRRA so far
• Socio-economic aspects and lessons learned on the functioning of Water User Associations in different States
• Any inputs on how tradeable water rights are being configured

This study is targeted at creating literature that forms the basis of critical review of the Act, which is the first of its kind (other than the Arunachal Act) rehauling the irrigation management sector. Your responses will be a valued contribution to this study.

Please see attachment below for the responses.