Minister for Revenue, Haj & Auqaf and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri today convened a meeting to discuss and review the results achieved on adoption of the State Water Policy and issues arising thereof.Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Sham Lal Choudhary was also present in the meeting.During the meeting, it was felt that the definition of water source needs to be reviewed and refined immediately to remove ambiguity besides the water source/course need to be properly demarcated/delineated.In this regard, it was decided that the Revenue and PHE, I&FC departments will take necessary steps to delineate and demarcate the water sources and courses which shall be notified district wise separately for removal of encroachments if any on such water courses/sources after proper identification.
The Ministers also stressed on the importance of preserving water sources and removal of encroachments along water bodies. They directed the Deputy Commissioners for ensuring implementation of rules and regulations governing such preservation.Veeri calling for immediate action in this regard said “There should be a strong check on any kind of encroachment and necessary action needs to be taken to prevent state’s water resources”.The Ministers directed that the Divisional Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners at relevant levels shall be the adjudicating officers for implementation of the policy at cutting edge level in letter & spirit with the involvement of Urban Local Bodies, Municipal Corporations and Water User Associations etc.Among others, Financial Commissioner Revenue Lokesh Jha, Commissioner Secretary Revenue, Shahid Inaytullah, Commissioner Secretary PHE, I&FC, M Raju, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Hemant Sharma, Deputy Commissioners of Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur were present in the meeting.