Section 14 in Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Act, 2020
14. Integrated State Water Plan.
(1)The Government shall prepare an Integrated State Water Plan based on water plans prepared for every block.(2)Water Plan for every block shall be prepared in such manner, as may be prescribed and it shall cover all aspects of demand and supply and water for various purposes.(3)The Integrated State Water Plan shall be placed before the Council, which may, with such modifications as deemed necessary, approve it within a period of six months from the date of submission.(4)The Integrated State Water Plan may be reviewed after every three years from the date of its approval by the Council.(5)For the purpose of the Integrated State Water Plan, the Government may divide the State into different categories based on the stage of groundwater development, the trend of groundwater level depletion, the level of water table, quality of groundwater, availability of surface water or other relevant criteria, as it may deem appropriate in view of the local conditions:Provided that the categorization shall not take effect unless a notice in this regard is published in not less than two newspapers, including at least one daily regional language newspaper having wide circulation in the State.(6)Any person may file written objections against the categorization along with such fee, as may be specified, within one month from the date of publication.(7)The Government shall within a period of two months, consider and settle all objections received against the proposed categorization and notify the final categorization of the areas from such date, as it may deem fit.
