Overview

• The Cabinet on June 25 approved the River Basin Conservation and Management Framework to improve water resource oversight across the state.
• The apex body will include ministers from Water Resources, Industries, Revenue, Power, Forests, Finance, Local Self-Government, Agriculture, Environment, Fisheries, Public Works and Tourism alongside the State Planning Board vice-chair and the Chief Secretary.
• District collectors will chair basin-level panels based on the largest area under each river basin with other district officers serving as co-chairs.
• Separate steering and technical committees will be led by the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary (Water Resources) to drive planning, monitoring and coordination.
• The framework responds to lessons from the 2018 and 2019 floods and fulfills recommendations of Kerala’s 14th Five Year Plan for institutional river basin management.