Meghalaya becomes first state to come up with water policy

Shillong: Meghalaya became the first state in India to ensure the conservation of water and have own water policy following approval by the State Cabinet yesterday.

The draft water policy was approved by the State Cabinet in a meeting chaired by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.

In a tweet, Chief Minister Sangma said, it is historic for Meghalaya as the state has become the first State in the country to have a State Water Policy.

The Cabinet after detailed a deliberation approved the Meghalaya State Water Policy 2019. It is historic for #Meghalaya as we have become the first State in the country to have a State water policy.@PMOIndia @narendramodi @gssjodhpur pic.twitter.com/KRsdx8NyEv

— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) July 12, 2019

The objective of the policy is to recognize water resources as a common pool resource, to provide safe and hygienic water for drinking, domestic and sanitation and livelihood development to all residents of the state.

The state policy outlines several measures like construction of check dams to conserve rainwater, setting up of rainwater harvesting systems, and proper ways to control improper use of groundwater.

The policy will be implemented through the active participation of the community. The state will constitute a ‘Water Sanitation Village Council’ at the village level for smooth implementation of the policy.

It also aims at ensuring protection and conservation of catchment areas of all water sources to prevent degradation of the quantity and quality of water sources.

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