PM Narendra Modi calls for greater adoption of water-saving technologies & learning from global best practices

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chairing of the valedictory session of the two-day National Departmental Summit on Water, organized by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, marks a significant policy intervention in India's evolving water governance architecture. This summit is not an isolated event but a continuation of the government's sustained focus on water security since 2014, beginning with the renaming of the Ministry of Water Resources to the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2019, consolidating the Departments of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, and Drinking Water & Sanitation under one umbrella. The Prime Minister's emphasis on sensitizing Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to the twin challenges of rapid urbanization and escalating water demand reflects a critical governance gap: while the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, devolved functions like water supply and sanitation to municipalities (Article 243W, Twelfth Schedule), most ULBs lack the technical capacity, financial autonomy, and data-driven planning tools to manage these responsibilities effectively. India's urban population is projected to reach 600 million by 2031 (Census 2011 projections), and NITI Aayog's Composite Water Management Index (2019) warned that 21 major cities could run out of groundwater by 2030, affecting 100 million people. The PM's call for organizing 'Chintan Shivirs' (structured brainstorming sessions) at the ULB level is a pragmatic step toward cooperative federalism, enabling peer learning and localized problem-solving — echoing the spirit of Article 243ZD (District Planning Committees) and Article 243ZE (Metropolitan Planning Committees). His push for adopting water-saving technologies — such as smart metering, SCADA systems, IoT-based leak detection, and treated wastewater reuse — aligns with the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT 2.0), launched in October 2021, which targets universal water supply coverage and 100% sewage management in 500 cities. Equally important is the directive to learn from global best practices: Israel's drip irrigation and desalination model, Singapore's NEWater (recycled wastewater meeting 40% of demand), and Cape Town's 'Day Zero' behavioral campaigns offer transferable lessons. The summit's integration with the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched on August 15, 2019, to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024, underscores a holistic 'source-to-tap-to-reuse' approach. Constitutionally, water is a State subject (Entry 17, State List), but inter-state rivers fall under Union jurisdiction (Entry 56, Union List), and Article 262 empowers Parliament to adjudicate inter-state water disputes — making Centre-State coordination essential. The economic stakes are high: the World Bank estimates water scarcity could cost India 6% of GDP by 2050. Socially, water stress disproportionately affects women and marginalized communities, linking to SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities). Politically, water security is emerging as a key electoral issue in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Future implications include potential legislation for a National Water Framework Law (as recommended by the Mihir Shah Committee, 2016), mandatory water audits for cities, and integration of water budgeting into municipal finance under the 15th Finance Commission's performance-based grants. This summit signals a shift from supply-side engineering to demand-side management, behavioral change, and technology-enabled governance — a paradigm shift that aspirants must understand not as a scheme, but as a structural transformation in India's water federalism.