The reported government move to delink Irrigation Design and Research Board (IRDB) from the Irrigation Department has come in for criticism.
Department sources told The Hindu here that a budget proposal with an allocation of Rs.3.5 crore to set the ground to make the board an autonomous body, runs contrary to a Twelfth Plan proposal to modernise and fortify it under the department itself. It was proposed to step up its efficacy to address emerging challenges and equip it for better management of the water resources. The Plan proposal had an allocation of Rs.1.75 crore too.
The board, armed with about 79 engineering experts, comprising a chief engineer, directors, an assistant engineer, five gazetted officers, 44 draughtsmen, and about 45 administrative staff, is the custodian of all key data and information vital to scientific water management.
The board is also tasked with the planning and designing of irrigation projects and also developing new models conducive to optimum utilisation of water resources in the State. It had been playing a pivotal role in reviewing, analysing, and conducting research about the water flow in rivers, among other tasks, sources said.
“The Twelfth Plan allocation was mainly intended at augmenting the research and studies about the irrigation system and channelising the potential to meet the water needs of the State in a scientific manner. Moreover, the board is the only reliable database which is quite pertinent for the State government to deal with inter-State water disputes such as Mullaperiyar and also for working out plans for water management for the future,” a senior official said.
The move to make the board an autonomous body by delinking it from the Irrigation Department is feared to have far-reaching consequences. The most significant apprehension is about the safety of the database painstakingly built up by the board personnel over the years. Any compromise in safely conserving the database would prove to be detrimental to the interests of the State, especially in the wake of a series of inter-State litigations.
This is being perceived as the preliminary step towards privatisation and also for axing the posts in the department. Already an action plan has been prepared to do away with 5,778 temporary posts which need annual government clearance. The bid to grant autonomy could only be seen as complementary step to the downsizing plan, the sources said.
IRDB custodian of key data vital to scientific water management
Budget allocation of Rs.3.5 crore for making it an autonomous body
