Section 2 in Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation And Management) Act, 2010
2. Definitions
- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -(a)"Act" means the Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, 2010;(b)"Authority" means the J&K State Water Resources Regulatory Authority established under section 139 of the Act;(c)"Assistant Executive Engineer" means an Assistant Executive Engineer in-Charge of the concerned wing of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Department exercising control over a sub-division of an irrigation, flood control, hydraulic work or ground water;(d)"bed material" mean all kinds of material which is extracted from the bed of any water source in any form;(e)"beneficiary" means a person who derives benefits from the usage of water for drinking purposes, irrigation, drainage, generation of electricity or extraction of bed material from any water source, navigation or any other direct or indirect usage;(f)"category of use" means use of water for different purposes such as for, generation of electricity, running of water mills, agricultural, irrigation, horticulture, drinking water (domestic, industrial or commercial), navigation and institutional use etc.;(g)"communication pipe" means any pipe or system of pipes, along with all fittings thereto, by means of which water is supplied to any user, licensee, premises, habitation, village or area from the main and includes a connection pipe, service pipe, meter or other fittings;(h)"connection pipe" means any water pipe from a ferrule to stopcock connecting the main with the service pipe;(i)"consumer" means any person getting the benefit of water supply provided by the Government or any local body or licensee, as the case may be;(j)"culturable command area" means all lands which are fit for cultivation under irrigable command of irrigation work;(k)"dam" means works that include a barrier whether perm temporary which has the potential of impounding controlling water for multipurpose projects or schemes like generation of electricity, irrigation or an other use;(l)"drainage works" include(i)channels, either natural or artificial, for the discharge of wast or surplus water, and all works connected with or auxiliary channels;(ii)escape channels from an irrigation work, dam, weir, embank flood embankment, sluice, groin and other works connected there-,, with, but does not include works for the removal of sewage;(iii)any work in connection with a system of reclamation constructed or maintained by the Government for the purpose of drainage of an area; and(iv)all field drains;(m)"drinking water" means water for consumption or use by human population for drinking or other domestic purposes, which shall include(i)consumption or use of water for cooking, bathing, washing, cleansing and other day-to-day activities; and(ii)water meant for consumption by the livestock;(n)"electricity" means electrical energy generated by way of usage of water from any water source flowing within the territory of the State;(o)'embankment" means and includes every bank, dam, wall and dyke made or used for retaining water upon any land, every sluice, spur, groyne, training wall or other work annexed to, or portion thereof made or erected for the protection of any such embankment, or of any land, from erosion or over flow by, or of, any water source, tide or wave and also all buildings and roads, intended for purpose of inspection and super7 xi of such embankments;(p)"Executive Engineer" means the Executive Engineer of the concerned wing of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Department exercising control over a division of PHE, Irrigation, Flood control, hydraulic work or ground water;(q)"field channel" means a channel, and everything appurtenant to it, constructed by any owner or occupier or beneficiary, or by the Government on their behalf and at their cost, to serve the various fields within a block and includes existing water channels constructed or maintained by the owners or occupiers or beneficiaries;Explanation:- "existing" means existing at the time of the commencement of the Act;(r)"Filed drain" includes the drains, escape channels and other similar works constructed and maintained by the owners or occupiers or beneficiaries or by the Government on its own cost or on behalf, and at the cost, of such owners or occupiers or beneficiaries;(s)"flood basin" means the area which is required for carrying the flow of the floods;(t)"flood embankment" means any embankment constructed or maintained by the Government in connection with any system of irrigation or reclamation works for the protection of lands and other infrastructure form inundation or which may be declared by the Government to be maintained in connection with any such system, and includes all groynes, spurs, dams and other protective works connected with such embankment;(u)"flood water" means water overflowing or erupting or that has overflowed or erupted from a water source onto, or over, land or built up area which is not submerged when such water source flows between, or is contained within, its bed and banks;(v)"Government" means the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir;(w)"hydraulic works" include(i)all reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic or commercial water supply works, pipes, ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices, gates, outlets, washouts, pumping installations, flood embankments or other flood protection works constructed, maintained or controlled by the Government for the usage or storage of water;(ii)all works, embankments, structures, control structures including outlets, supply and escape channels connected with such reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic or commercial water supply works, pipes, ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices, gates, outlets, washouts, pumping installations, and all roads constructed for facilitating the construction or maintenance of such reservoirs, tanks dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic or commercial water supply works, pipes, ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices and pumping installation;(iii)all drainage works, flood embankments, other flood protection works, wells, water courses and field channels;(iv)all lands held by the Government for the purpose of such reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic water supply works pips, ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices, pumping installation and all buildings, machinery, fences, gates and other erections upon such lands;(v)zamindari khuls; and(vi)all lands, roads, cross drainage, catch water drains, pillars, boundary pillars, reference pillars, buildings, machinery, fences, gates other erections, trees, crops, plantations or other produce occupied by and belonging to Government for the purposes of irrigation works.(x)"head works" mean the work relating to construction of any dam, weir, barrage or reservoir and all works appurtenant thereto, channel, structure, building, well, bore, tunnel or machinery used for, or in connection with, the storage, control, conveyance or distribution of water for different purposes;(y)"land under irrigable commands" means such lands as are irrigated or capable of being irrigated by flow or lift from any hydraulic work being under its command and shall include also such cultivated land which received, in the opinion of the Assistant Executive Engineer concerned, by percolation or otherwise from an hydraulic work or by indirect flow, percolation or drainage from, or through, adjoining land advantage beneficial to the crop;(z)"licensee" means an person, group of persons, firm, corporation, company, society, board, local body, Government Department or any other authority authorised under section 97 of the Act to avail the facility of usage of water from any source, or extraction of bed material with location thereof, within the State;(za)"licensing authority" means(i)in relation to clause (a) of sub-section (1) section 91, the Government; and(ii)in relation to clauses (b) to (e) of sub-section (1) of section 91, the(a)Chief Engineer concerned In-charge PHE in respect of drinking water supply and groundwater; and(b)Chief Engineer concerned In-charge Irrigation and Flood Control in respect of irrigation, flood control and embankment schemes.(zb)"local body" or "local authority" means a municipal corporation, municipal committee, municipal council or a halqa panchayat constituted under any law for the time being in force and includes such other body or authority as the Government may, from time to time, notify;(i)land-levelling and land-shaping, including realignment of field boundaries and terracing;(i)every person who is entitled for the time being to receive any rent in respect of such land, premises or building;(i)in relation to drinking water supply and groundwater, the Chief Engineer concerned In-charge PHE; and(i)any tank, cistern, hydrant, stand pipe, meter or tap situated on any premises or property and connected with a main or the distribution pipe; and(ii)the water pipe connecting such a tank, cistern, hydrant stand pipe, meter or tap with such main or distribution pipe;(zzc)"water course" means any river, tributaries, nallah, stream, canal, khad, flood channel, diversion channel, outlet, natural drainage or any other means of flow or drainage of water whether perennial or seasonal;(zzd)"water mills" include jandar, gharat and any other kind of mill worked by water of a river, brook or zamindari khul (a small water channel);(zze)"water source" means a river and its tributaries, stream, nallah, canal, spring, pond, lake, water course, underground water or any other source from which water becomes available for use but does not include a shallow well in any private land for domestic use of the owner thereof;(zzf)"water supply" means supply of water to any consumer or a licensee for its use for drinking purposes and other domestic use or for use in any trade or business, gardening exclusively, irrigation, fountains, swimming bath, public bath or for any ornamental or mechanical purpose or for use at restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, clubs and washing vehicles etc.;(zzg)"water works" mean the water channel including a river, stream, lake, spring, canal, well or other underground water source, pump, galleries, reservoir, cistern, tank or duct whether covered or open, treatment units, sluice, supply main culvert, engine, water truck, hydrants, stand pipe, conduit and machinery, land, building or other things for supplying or used for supplying water or for protecting sources of water supply or for treatment of water;(zzh)"water usage charges" means the rate levied or charged for use of water and fixed under section 128;(zzi)"water usage code" means the water usage specified under section 138;(zzj)"well" means a well sunk for search or extraction of ground water by any person for drawing out water or for carrying out scientific investigations, exploration, development, augmentation, protection or management of ground water and includes open well, dug well, bore well, dug-cum-bore well, tube-well, filter point, collector well and infiltration gallery or any of their combinations or variations which would include any such type of structure required for proper development and use of spring water:(ii)in relation to irrigation, flood control and embankments, the Chief Engineer concerned In-charge Irrigation and Flood Control.(zn)"regulations" mean the regulations made under section 198;(zo)"river basin" means the river system and the adjacent land, which is separated from another river basin by a physical boundary;(zp)"rules" mean the rules made under section 197;(zq)"section" means a section of the Act;(zr)"service pipe" means any pipe other than the connection pipe beyond the stop-cock by means of which water is supplied to any consumer or premises;(zs)"sewage effluent" means effluent from any sewerage system or sewage disposal works and includes sullage from open drains;(zt)"specified" means specified under regulations framed by the authority under section 198;(zu)"Superintending Engineer" means the Superintending Engineer of the concerned wing of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Department exercising control over a circle of an irrigation, flood control, hydraulic work or groundwater;(zv)"trade effluent" includes any liquid, gaseous or solid substance which is discharged from any premises used for carrying on any trade or industry, other than domestic sewage;(zw)"underground water" means water under the surface of earth regardless of the geologic structure in which it is standing or moving, but it does not include water flowing in artificial underground streams;(zx)"user" means any person, group of persons, local body, Government Department, board, company, corporation, society etc. using water for drinking purposes, commercial, industrial or institutional, irrigation, power generation, running of water mills, agriculture, or any other purpose from any source of water;(zy)"vessel" includes boats, rafts, timber and other floating bodies;(zz)"water" means natural resource flowing in any river, stream, tributary, canal, nallah or any other natural course of water or situated upon the surface of any land like lake, pond, lagoon, swamp, spring or groundwater but does not include fish;(zza)"water channel" means the length of a channel between an outlet and a field channel, built or constructed to carry water from an outlet to any block of land;(zzb)"water connection" includes(ii)a manager on behalf of any such person;(iii)any agent for any such person; and(iv)an occupier;(zj)"permit" means a document issued by the prescribed authority under the Act authorising use of water by the holder thereof;(zk)"premises" means any building or part of a building or out house but shall not include garden, ground or lawn, if any, appurtenant to a building or part of a building;(zl)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under the Act;(zm)"prescribed authority" means(ii)providing of falls, culverts and farm roads in the fields;(iii)land reclamation by use of engineering, biological and chemical measures, including leaching;(iv)contour bunding and nallah bunding; and(v)such other work as may be necessary or incidental to the development of land or ground or flow of water and for optimising the utilisation of land and water resources.(zh)"outlet" includes an opening constructed in an irrigation work through which water is delivered into a water course or field channel or directly on to any land;(zi)"owner" means every person having interest in the ownership of land, premises or other property, and all rights and obligations which attach to an owner under the provisions of the Act shall attach jointly and severally to every person having such joint interest in the ownership and includes(zc)"main" means a pipe laid by the department or a licensee, as the case may be, for the purpose of giving a general supply of water as distinct from a supply to individual consumers and includes any apparatus used in connection with such a pipe;(zd)"notification" means a notification published in the Government Gazette and the term "notify" shall be construed accordingly;(ze)"notified area" means the area notified as such under sub-section (1) of section 111;(zf)"occupier" includes an occupier of land or premises or other property who cultivates or possesses the same for the time being;(zg)"on-farm development" includes any of the following works:Provided that it shall not include the shallow wells where water is extracted by digging a well fitted with a hand operated manual pump, or is withdrawn by any manual device, or sub-surface well up to 20 metre depth;(zzk)"zamindari khul" means an irrigation channel which was maintained by the beneficiaries themselves but taken over by the Government for the purpose of remodelling, repair, maintenance, whether before or at the commencement of the Act and includes such of the Khuls which may be taken over by the Government in future for remodelling, repair or maintenance.
