 bill no v of 2007 the rivers desiltation authority of india  bill, 2007 a billto provide for the establishment of a rivers desiltation authority for the purposes of carryingout desiltation exercises covering the major rivers and its tributaries for obtaining bettermanagement of water resources by deepening the river beds resulting in deceleration in flow of river waters into the ocean and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the rivers desiltation authority act, 2007short title, and commencement(2) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "authority" means the rivers desiltation authority of india establishedunder section 3;(b) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act 3  the central government shall by notification in the official gazette establish an authority to be called the rivers desiltation authority of indiaestablishment of rivers desiltation authority of india4 (1) the authority shall consist of the following members, namely:—composition of the authority(a) the prime minister of india, who shall be the ex-officio chairman of the authority;(b) the union minister of water resources and the union minister of shipping, who shall be the ex-officio vice chair-persons of the authority;(c) chief minister of those states falling along the course of the indus and the ganga-brahmaputra river system and along the course of all the major rivers of the deccan plateau viz, mahanadi, godavari, krishna and cauvery, and nine members to be  nominated by central government in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed; and(d) one member, to be appointed by the central government, who shall be the director of the authority(2) the terms and conditions of the service of the members referred to in clause (c)and (d) of sub-section (1) shall be such as may be prescribed(3) subject to such rules as may be made by the central government in this behalf, the authority may, for the purposes of enabling it to perform its functions or exercise its powers efficiently under this act appoint such officers and other employees, as it may think fit, and determine their functions and conditions of services5  the funds of the authority shall  consist of,—funds of the authority(a) annual grants made to it by the central government after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf; and(b) contributions from the beneficiary states on proportionate basis6 the functions of the authority shall be to,—functions of the authority(a) draw up short-term and long-term plans for carrying out desiltation exercises in the basins of major rivers and its tributaries in various parts of the country on continuous basis;(b) set up adequate logistics and appropriate infrastructure judiciously in order to carry out the work and obtain pre-determined depth of the targeted river basins;(c) perform such other functions as may be incidental, or conducive to the discharge of its main functions;power to make rules7 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement  of  objects  and  reasonsour country, which has the world's highest and the most spectacular mountains, is also fortunate to be blessed with one of the world's most extensive and fertile plains, made up of alluvial soil brought down in the form of fine silt by the mighty rivers ironically, over the centuries depth of the basins of the rivers have continuously decelerated owing to concentration of alluvial soil and sand on these rivers' beds due to narrowing of the rivers' basins by silts, devastation by floods have become a recurring feature during the excess water flow in every monsoon season inundating vast parts of the country and, due to the decreasing water catchment capacity of the rivers, precious water has been compelled to be drain out into the ocean moreover, due to obstructions to seamless water flows caused by sediments deposited in the river beds, mighty rivers like the ganges and the brahmaputra have been changing their course by way of eroding the river banks in many of their catchment areas especially during every monsoon season for the last several years recent notable instance among them is the continuous erosion of banks in the course of the river ganges along murshidabad and maldah in west bengal where the river is seen to be progressively advancing towards bangladesh obliterating the existing geographical boundary between the two countriesthe problem of silt accumulation in rivers' beds is poised to multiply as no concrete steps to tackle it have been sincerely attempted so far desiltation of rivers will not only augment their water conservation capacity but will also facilitate much cheaper mode of transportation of goods and passengers on the waterways and the exercise will result in creation of huge employment opportunities, particularly for the unskilled people in rural areas along side the riversthis bill seeks to establish a rivers desiltation authority which will take appropriate steps for planning and implementing strategy for desiltation of rivers in the country in order that water resources can be managed fruitfully, occurrences of floods can be controlled and waterways can be harnessed for yielding economic benefits to the society, including large employment generationhence this bills s  ahluwalia financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill seeks to establish the rivers desiltation authority it is estimated that a sum of rupees one hundred crore will be required from the consolidated fund of india initially to set up the authority a sum of rupees ten crore per year will also be required to meet the recurring expenditureno non-recurring expenditure is likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 6 of the bill gives power to the central government to frame rules for carrying out the purposes of this act the rules will relate to matters of details only the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of normal character________ a billto provide for the establishment of a rivers desiltation authority for the purposes of carrying out desiltation exercises covering the major rivers and its tributaries for obtaining better management of water resources by deepening the river beds resulting in deceleration in flow of river waters into the ocean and for matters connected therewith________(shri  s s ahluwalia,  mp)mgipmrnd—1215rs(s5)—16-03-2007