DAMODAR VALLEY SCHEME CALCUTTA CONFERENCE 221
namely VIII and XIII. In their recommendation No. XIII the Committee have stated :
“During the course of discussions it was felt by the Committee that it will be an advantage in the solution of flood control and soil conservation problems if forests and rivers of India are made the concern of the Central Government.”
By their recommendation VIII, the Committee have suggested that the project of damming the Damodar should have as its purpose not merely stopping the flood but also include the generating of electricity and the supply of water for irrigation. Those who are aware of the present policy, or lack of policy, in the matter of the utilization of India’s water resources will admit that these are recommendations, the importance of which cannot be exaggerated. It is not far from truth to say that so far there has been an absence of positive all-India policy for the development of waterways. Secondly, there has not been enough realization that our policy for waterways must be multi-purpose policy so as to include the provision for irrigation, electrification and navigation.
Railways And Waterways
Irrigation has been the only purpose of our waterways policy. Further, we have not taken sufficient account of the fact that there is no difference between railways and waterways, and if railways cannot be subjected to provincial boundaries, neither can waterways, at any rate those that flow from province to province. On the contrary we have allowed our constitution to make a distinction between railways and waterways, with the result that railways are treated as Central, but waterways are treated as Provincial.
The disadvantages of this error are many and obvious. To give one illustration, a province needs electricity and wishes to utilise its water resources for the purpose but it cannot do so because the point at which water can be dammed lies in another province which being agricultural does not need electricity and has no interest in it, or money to finance the project, and would not allow the needy province to use the site. Complain as much as we like, a Province can take such an unfriendly attitude and justify it in the name of Provincial Autonomy.