Abstract
Groundwater law has been structured around a direct relationship between access to land and control over groundwater since the middle of the nineteenth century. The premises for the existing legal framework are not suited to today’s conditions. The present rules governing groundwater use essentially assume that it is a private resource, whereas groundwater is today the most widely used source of water for realising the fundamental right to water and is therefore the most common source of water for the majority of people. Further, the present rules are based on an understanding of regulation based around individual plots of land whereas groundwater needs to be regulated at the level of the aquifer. In addition, the present rules are structured around use whereas today it is protection of groundwater at aquifer level that should be the first priority of the legal framework. In this context, it is urgent to rethink groundwater law to recognise the nature of groundwater as a commons, to put protection at the very centre of the regulatory regime, to ensure that it is regulated firstly at the local level because it is used locally and to ensure that the regulatory regime effectively contributes to the realisation of the fundamental right to water. These principles are partly enshrined in the Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Bill, 2017, which provides an appropriate template to rethink groundwater law for the 2020s.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
E.g., Edit [1].
- 2.
The Model Groundwater (Control and Regulation) Bill, 1970.
- 3.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests, S.O. 38 (Notified on January 14, 1997); See also the Ministry of Environment and Forests, S.O. 1024 (Notified on 6 November 2000).
- 4.
E.g., The Tamil Nadu Groundwater (Control and Regulation) Bill, 1977 and Karnataka Groundwater (Regulation and Control) Bill, 1985, were referred in Jairaj [2].
- 5.
E.g., Koonan [3].
- 6.
E.g., Koonan and Cullet [4].
- 7.
E.g., Acton v. Blundell, (1843) 12 Meeson and Welsby 324 (Court of Exchequer Chamber, 1 January 1843).
- 8.
E.g., George Chasemore v. Henry Richards (1859) VII House of Lords Cases 349 (House of Lords, 27 July 1859).
- 9.
See also Leah J. Katz v. Margaret D. Walkinshaw 141 Cal 116, 134 (1903).
- 10.
E.g., Dellapenna [5].
- 11.
Acton v. Blundell, (1843) 12 Meeson and Welsby 324 (Court of Exchequer Chamber, 1 January 1843).
- 12.
M. C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath, (1997) 1 SCC 388 (India).
- 13.
State of West Bengal v. Kesoram Industries, (2004) 10 SCC 201 (India).
- 14.
The Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater, 2011; Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Bill, 2017 [hereafter Groundwater Model Bill 2017].
- 15.
M. C. Mehta v. Union of India, (1997) 11 SCC 312 (India).
- 16.
Shailesh Singh v. Hotel Holiday Regency, Moradabad, Original Application No. 176 of 2015 (National Green Tribunal), ¶ 29.
- 17.
Government of Rajasthan, Public Health Engineering Department, Order No. 5(1) PHED/2010-part-1 (Notified on 14 July 2011).
- 18.
Ministry of Jal Shakti, Central Groundwater Authority, Guidelines to Regulate and Control Groundwater Extraction in India, S.O. 3289(E) (Notified on 24 September 2020).
- 19.
The Groundwater Model Bill 2017, § 13.
- 20.
Id. at § 6.
- 21.
Ministry of Jal Shakti [6].
- 22.
Id.at § 3.6.1.
- 23.
E.g., Teltumbde [7].
- 24.
The Groundwater Model Bill, 2017, § 9.
- 25.
Jal Jeevan Guidelines,§ 3.5.
- 26.
E.g., Kelkar Khambete [8].
References
Edit ET (2020) Needed, a national water commission. The Economic Times, 24 Feb 2020. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/et-editorials/needed-a-national-water-commission
Jairaj B (1996) Delhi’s groundwater: rights and policy. In: Pradhan R et al (eds) Water rights, conflict and policy. International Irrigation Management Institute, pp 81–92
Koonan S (2010) Legal regime governing groundwater. In: Cullet P et al (eds) Water law for the twenty-first century: national and international aspects of water law reform in India. Routledge, Abingdon, p 182
Koonan S, Cullet P (eds) (2017) Water law in India—an introduction to legal instruments, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Dellapenna JW (2013) The rise and the demise of the absolute dominion doctrine for groundwater. Univ Ark Little Rock Law Rev 35:291–355
Ministry of Jal Shakti (2019) Operational guidelines for the implementation of Jal Jeevan mission. Government of India. https://jalshakti-ddws.gov.in/sites/default/files/JJM_Operational_Guidelines.pdf
Teltumbde A (2011) India’s (Jati) Panchayati Raj. Econ Polit Week 46(36):10–11
Kelkar Khambete A (2020) Providing safe drinking water, in difficult times! India Water Portal, 4 Apr 2020. https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/providing-safe-drinking-water-difficult-times
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cullet, P. (2021). Groundwater Management—Towards a Legal Framework Ensuring Equity and Protection. In: Khan, S.A., Puthucherril, T.G., Paul, S.R. (eds) Groundwater Law and Management in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2617-3_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2617-3_24
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-2616-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-2617-3
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)