Several states oppose bill aimed at minimising flood losses

Even as floods play havoc in Uttarakhand, several states have opposed the provisions of a 38-year-old Model Flood Bill aimed at minimising losses to life and property in the natural calamity.

The bill, prepared by the Central Water Commission in 1975, will empower authorities to remove dwellings from flood-prone areas. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have opposed the draft bill, saying rehabilitation of people who will be displaced after the dwellings are removed is a difficult task.
"They also fear that the Centre will not pay monetary compensation to them if they fail to implement the law in letter and spirit," said a senior Water Resources Ministry official. "Today several such low-lying areas have been given for commercial development and the the onus of protecting lives and property in such areas lies with the state governments.
They know they cannot seek compensation for damage caused in such areas," the official said. There are some states which have not responded to the model bill. The bill, if implemented, will seek to replace dwellings in low-lying areas by parks and playgrounds as absence of human settlement in those areas would cut down loss of lives and property.
The CWC had circulated the model bill to all the states to help the state governments enact the legislation. Except for Manipur and Rajasthan, no state legislature has enacted the 'Model Bill on Flood Plain Zoning'.Though Manipur enacted the legislation in 1978, the demarcation of flood zones is yet to be carried out. Rajasthan is yet to enforce the measure, though it has enacted the bill.
"Keeping in mind changing demands of state governments and their opposition to various provisions of the bill, the Centre is likely to revise the draft...The present model draft Bill for flood plain zoning is quite old and Union Government is considering to review the same and re-circulate the Revised Model Flood Plain Zoning Bill for enactment and further action," Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat recently told a meeting of Ganga Flood Control Board here.