Need for domestic water trumps other purposes: Bombay High Court

Some of the petitions had sought release of water from upstream reservoirs in Godavari river sub-basin to Jayakwadi dam for various uses.

The Bombay high court has said precedence for distribution and allocation of water should be given for domestic needs over all other requirements that include industry, agriculture, environment conservation and last but not the least, religious purposes. The court also held that the Water Resources department was the trustee of water resources in the state and should prioritise water distribution as per Clause 4 of the Maharashtra State Water Policy.

A division bench of Justices A.S. Oka and G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a clutch of writ petitions and public interest litigations filed by various individuals and organisations concerning equitable distribution of water and disputes arising from it not being done. Most issues revolved around supply of water to parts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada.

While some of the petitions had sought release of water from upstream reservoirs in Godavari river sub-basin to Jayakwadi dam for various uses including farming, industrial and religious purposes, others had filed petitions challenging the order of the authorities that released water for drinking purposes only to overcome water scarcity is some drought affected areas.

“The court ordered that in case of scarcity or hydrological drought, the state was not entitled to release water from reservoirs for non-priority purposes without adjudication being made by the Regulatory Authority under Clause (c) of Section 11 of the Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority Act, 2005,” said advocate Rajesh Vanzara of S K Legal representing the Water Resource Authority, state of Maharashtra.

The court also directed the state to determine the sectoral allocation of water within six months to enable the regulatory authority decide the criteria for the distribution of entitlements. After this, implementation has to be carried out in the next two years.