PESHAWAR: Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has achieved a milestone by constituting Water Resources Commission for the protection, preservation and effective management of water resources in the province; and the Water Resources Commission has formally started functioning.
Its first meeting was held here on Wednesday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has thus become the first ever province of the country to have its Water Resources Commission. The 21 member commission has been constituted under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Water Act 2020, and is headed by the Chief Minister.
Other members of the commission include concerned provincial ministers, chief secretary, concerned administrative secretaries and experts from the private sector. The commission shall take all such policy decisions for the purpose of conserving, redistributing and augmenting the water resources in the province, allocating water resources for different purposes and securing the proper use of water resources in the province. The commission shall meet at least once every six months.
It is pertinent to mention here that the first meeting of the commission is coinciding with World Water Week 2021. Besides provincial cabinet members Taimur Saleem Jhagara, Mohibullah Khan, Kamran Bangash, Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz and administrative secretaries of concerned departments attended the meeting.
While briefing the meeting about different aspects of Water Resources Commission, It was told that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Water Regulatory Authority has also been established for the implementation of policy decisions of the commission and to regulate all the matters related to water resources. The Water Regulatory Authority will also work as working group of the commission’s for policy formulation. The provincial government has also designed an Integrated Water Resource Management Plan which focuses on social, economic, environmental and technical aspects regarding management of water resources.
Similarly, Rivers Protection Act has been enacted in order to protect the water resources and to protect the rivers from pollution. The forum was informed that framing of a number of bylaws and regulations under Water Act, 2020 was in progress and necessary amendments have been made in the rules of business of all the concerned departments to identify and assign responsibilities to the relevant departments with regard to better and efficient management of water resources.
The participants were further briefed about the current situation of water in the province, climate change, importance of water resources in socio-economic development and other matters related to water commission. The forum underlined the need to have a comprehensive and well devised strategy to ensure result oriented steps to ensure water preservation.
The chief minister termed the constitution of Water Resources Commission as a major achievement of the provincial government and said that the provincial government had taken yet another lead towards good governance strategy. He stated that the commission would prove to be a milestone in the preservation of water resources in accordance with the National Water Policy. He urged upon authorities to ensure strict implementation of the policies devised under the water act and commission, and directed them to formulate a realistic and practicable way forward with timelines for the purpose.
He further directed the authorities concerned to ensure full scale consultation with all the stake holders and experts of the field in formulating policies to this effect. He termed the preservation and efficient management of water resources as one of the top priorities of his government and said that the provincial government would take all the required steps to this end.
