Hyderabad: National seminar delves into groundwater management law

Hyderabad: Environment Law Cell (ELC), Symbiosis Law School (SLS), Hyderabad organised a one-day national seminar on 'Ground Water Management Law' here on Saturday.

The seminar secured momentum with the august gathering of academic, industrial and legal experts on groundwater management and law.

The seminar has witnessed tremendous response from the delegates, paper presenters and participants. A total number of 41 research papers were presented during the plenary session and technical session. The Inaugural session comprised of Chief Guest Honourable Gurugubelli Yethirajulu, Former Judge, AP High Court, Guest of Honour Dr R C Jain, Advisor, Groundwater Resources Development Corporation, Government of Gujarat, Prof (Dr) M K Ramesh, Professor NLSIU, Bangalore, Prof (Dr) Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, Director SLS, Dr Anuradha Binnuri, Deputy Director, SLS, Dr Sanu Rani Paul, Assistant Professor and Convener of the National Seminar.

In the keynote address, Dr R C Jain extensively deliberated on the legal provisions in the Constitution and other legal provisions on the Groundwater law and also on the Model Groundwater law in India. Prof (Dr) M K Ramesh stated that water availability and its usage is uneven and requires legal regulation.

He mentioned that immunity license permits are required for every bore point. He also stressed on the sector-wise approach in regulating groundwater in India. Justice Gurugubelli Yethirajulu enlightened the audience on the importance of Constitutional provisions that include the right to water as a fundamental right with various judicial pronouncements. He also appreciated the novel experiment made by the Telangana Government through Mission Bhageeratha and Kaleswaram Projects in tackling the issues of scarcity drinking water and groundwater issues.

Dr (Prof) Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan spoke on the importance of the seminar in bringing awareness and the possibility of having a policy level initiative on groundwater as an outcome of the seminar.

The Seminar was divided into two plenary sessions and three parallel technical sessions. The seminar had eminent persons like Mohan Katarki, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Brijesh Kalappa, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Jacob Alex, Advocate, High Court of Kerala, Prof (Dr) Furqan Ahmed, Professor, Symbiosis Law School, Noida, Jasmine, Assistant Professor, Tamil Nadu National Law University, K A S Mani, FAO, and World Bank Consultant, Water Resources, Dr Sujith Koonan, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University Of Delhi, Dr Venugopal, Retired Director, Groundwater and Water Audit Department, Telangana, Dr P N Rao, Senior Scientist, Central Government Water Board, Hyderabad. Vote of thanks was delivered by Dr Anuradha Binnuri, Deputy Director, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad.