 bill no 310  of  2015 the special drinking water and irrigation development fund (for dark zone areas) bill, 2015 by shri devji m patel, mp a billto provide for the constitution of a special drinking water and irrigation developmentfund for supply of drinking water and developing irrigation facilities in the darkzone areas and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the special drinking water and irrigation development fund (for dark zone areas) act, 2015short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) 'dark zone area' means any district, town, village or tehsil where the groundwater is lower than the average level and has been declared as the dark zone area by the state government concerned or the central government, as the case may be;(b) 'fund' means the special drinking water and irrigation development fund constituted under section 3; and(c) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made under this act53 (1) the central government shall constitute a fund to be known as the special drinking water and irrigation development fund for the supply of drinking water and development of irrigation facilities in dark zone areasspecial drinking water and irrigation development fund(2) the central government shall, from time to time, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, contribute such sums of money, fund as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this act104 (1) a state government or union territory administration, as the case may be, shall forward to the central government the details of the required infrastructure and the estimated cost for supply of drinking water and the development of irrigation projects in the dark zone areas falling in their respective territories, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed15(2) the central government on receipt of such details, shall release funds to the state government or the union territory administration, as the case may be, for the development of drinking water and irrigation facilities in the dark zone areas in such manner as may be prescribed20(3) the funds provided under sub-section (2) shall be used for the following purposes in dark zone areas:—(i) expeditious completion of ongoing drinking water and irrigation projects;state government/ union territory administration to send details of the infrastructure and cost required for the development of drinking water and irrigation facility in dark zone areas(ii) construction of small ponds for the use of farmers and others; (iii) digging wells and bore wells; (iv) installing electric pumps for drinking water and irrigation facilities;25(v) promoting use of simple and cost-effective techniques and institutional devices as may be prepared or put in place on the basis of local technical skill and materials available for the conservation of water;(vi) renovation of old ponds, wells and water reservoirs; (vii) afforestation along the banks of ponds, canals and water reservoirs;30(viii) development of horticulture; (ix) rainwater harvesting in schools, government buildings and private buildings;(x) conservation of natural drainage;(xi) development of meadows at the panchayat and village level;35(xii) construction of canals and check dams; and (xiii) development of barren and desert land40(4) in case any state government or the union territory administration fails to utilise the funds for the purposes it was released or fails to forward the details under subsection (1), the central government shall withhold release of funds to such state government or the union territory administration, as the case may bepowers to make rules5 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this act(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if,45before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule5 statement of objects and reasonsmore than one third area of the country is riddled with geological water crisis in certain parts of india, particularly in north-west india, the groundwater level is declining by four centimeter every year these states include several areas of rajasthan, delhi, haryana, punjab and western uttar pradesh out of total 5,723 blocks in the country as many as 839 blocks have been pushed to the dark zone due to exploitation of groundwater the condition of 226 blocks is critical whereas 550 blocks is semi-critical the states of punjab, haryana, rajasthan, andhra pradesh and tamil nadu are facing severe water crisis even the states of uttar pradesh, uttarakhand, west bengal, gujarat and kerala are not exception to this to look at it state-wise, in tamil nadu out of 385 blocks, 33 are in critical zone while 57 blocks are in semi-critical zone in the state of andhra pradesh, out of 219 blocks, as many as 77 and 175 are in critical and semi-critical zones, respectively in the state of haryana, out of 113 blocks, 11 blocks are critical while 5 blocks are semi-critical the state of punjab is the worst hit where critical zone accounts for 5 blocks and semicritical zone comprises 4 blocks out of 137 blocks in the state of rajasthan, water is not worth harnessing out of 236 blocks, as 164 blocks have been pushed to the excessive harnessing zone and 34 blocks have reached the critical stage in the year 1984, the level of groundwater in 203 blocks was not alarming but in the year 2015, the number of secured blocks have come down to 30the increase in the spread of dark zone areas is largely attributed to excessive harnessing of groundwater it is expedient and necessary to tap maximum amount of rainwater to tackle such horrific situationthe water table is continuously declining and is reaching the alarming scale in dark zone area the state governments are facing funds crunch to do the needful or even make proper arrangements for drinking water in these areastherefore, there is a need to constitute a fund for rainwater harvesting, development of irrigation facility and providing safe drinking water to persons residing in the dark zone areashence this billnew delhi;devji m patelnovember 16, 2015 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of special drinking water and irrigation fund for providing requisite funds for making available potable water and water for irrigation purposes in the dark zone areas clause 4 provides for the release of funds to the state governments for making available drinking water and developing of irrigation projects in the dark zone areas the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve recurring  annual expenditure of five thousand crore rupees from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about one thousand crore rupees is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 5 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for the constitution of a special drinking water and irrigation developmentfund for supply of drinking water and developing irrigation facilities in the darkzone areas and for matters connected therewith————(shri devji m patel, mp)gmgipmrnd—3215ls(s3)—08-12-2015