Water Laws in Kerala: An Overview

1. Introduction

Water is an indispensable natural resource that sustains life on earth. Everyone may agree that it is a fundamental human need and has emerged as an invaluable economic asset. A considerable section of people view it as a basic human right. Though water is a finite natural resource, the demand on it is growing rapidly due to reasons like population growth, intensive agriculture, expanding industrial needs etc. Simultaneously water resource is being depleted, destroyed or polluted at an alarming rate. Water accessibility could be the most important inequality existing in the present day society. In order to keep a balance between the resource availability and the growing needs, a comprehensive and equitable water resource management regime backed by well built legal frame work is needed. Such a legal frame work could serve as the backbone of the emerging paradigm of water governance in which the water users have a dominant stake.

Kerala is a state with abundant water availability to the tune of around 300 cms annually. Water exists almost everywhere in the State in the form of rain, ocean, rivers, ice, lakes, ponds or streams and it has been categorized into ground water, surface water, rain water etc. The uses of water range from drinking purposes to irrigation requirements to industrial needs. Since access to and control over water is an indicator of economic, environmental and human progress in any society, the need for evolving laws that contribute to its equitable distribution among and use by all sorts of stakeholders, is obvious. Equitable and democratic use of water resources can be achieved by promoting the stakeholder participation, awareness creation and enabling legislative provisions on matters related to water. Democratic water governance pre supposes having a well built framework of water laws, pro-active participation of people and sustainable water related programmes focusing