Pro-farmer, tech-savvy reforms will made for the development of water resources in the 12th Five-Year plan, which begins next year, a member of the Planning Commission said in Singapore on Thursday.

The focus would be on technology to manage water resources, promote the use of recycled water among industries and pay per use, said Planning Commission Member Mihir Shah, who holds the charge of water in the commission.

Technology would help both large and small industries to use recycled water, while payment would ensure the water needs of the entire population is met, he said at the Singapore International Water Week.

“Pricing has been a stumbling block for many years. But once the water supply is ensured, people will want to pay for it,” said Shah, adding that people should have a role in water management and understand the limits of the resource.

Shah underlined the sensitivity of paying for water, but highlighted some model projects in Andhra Pradesh where people were paying for it as they had been involved in the project.

People from farmers to industries should be involved in the water projects, stressed Shah, noting the increasing public concern about privatisation of water, which was widely seen as taking away “the gift of God” from the people.

Shah pointed out that India’s water efficiency was the lowest in the world and stressed on the need for industries to lead by using recycled water for their processes.

Sprinklers and drip systems would help farmers improve water usage, said Shah, adding that the best global technologies that suit the local environment were being studied to improve water efficiency in the country.

“Look at India through the Indian lenses and reality in selecting technology,” he said, pointing out that introduction of the best technology would be one of the focus points of the irrigation reforms to be taken up during the 12th Plan.

Speaking on the sidelines of the India business forum at the Singapore International Water Week, Shah said payment for irrigation water would make farmers responsible for the resource.

“If you don’t pay for the irrigation water, you actually endanger the right to drinking water. If you continue to have water and electricity free, you will not be able to ensure that the basic need of water is given to the entire population. That means a lot of new technologies are required with emphasis on water-saving techniques, primarily in agricultural, which take 80 per cent of the water,” he said.

The target would be to cut off water guzzlers, he added.

Elaborating on water management, Shah said the plan would have a decentralised system with autonomous water use associations of people that would pay for, manage and maintain water systems.

“You create centre of power or autonomy and incentivised people to be rational in water usage,” he stressed.

He also disclosed extensive mapping of aquifer structures, adding that between 25 million to 30 million structures have been identified, which has become important technical information and would help in managing water resources.

Shah highlighted the growing abuse of unpaid water usage, pointing out that some coastal areas have saline/sea water getting into the land as over production from natural reservoirs have resulted in the water table falling below sea level.

But Shah drew satisfaction from an Andhra Pradesh project where over one million people have organised their water management system.

Such model systems would be incentives for others to adopt, he said.

Shah said he also expected a new law to be in place by the end of the 12th Plan to replace the British Common Law of “My land, my water”.