Kottayam: The country's extreme dependence on the southwest monsoon for its water needs found resonance in the Union Budget with finance minister Arun Jaitley announcing a corpus of Rs 40,000 crore for irrigation purposes.
The funds would be parked with Nabard and utilized as the long-term irrigation fund.
Experts say the lack of specific allocation to replenish water sources and to optimize resources will impact the nation as a whole.
Water managers and researchers had sought innovative solutions rather than fund allocation for drought relief.
Experts like Latha Anantha of the River Research Centre, Chalakudy, Kerala, had sought an objective cost-benefit analysis, with regard to the schemes executed.
The budget is also silent on the ambitious Indian Rivers Interlink project.
Some states like Kerala had passed resolutions in the assemblies against the project.
But states like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh had seen partial completion of interlinks like Godavari-Krisha and Ken-Betwa respectively.
Unscientific exploitation of water resources, unsustainable usage patterns, lack of unified and standardized codes for transport and supply of water too remain unaddressed.
The Budget is also silent on the creation of an apex body to formulate and manage all water-related issues.
The general perception is that the finance minister left the critical area of water management unattended.
In effect, the ambitious plans launched by the previous UPA and the NDA regime to increase per capita water availability in the country gets a quiet burial.
