Kathmandu, Mar. 28:Water resources development should be based on the integrated and equitable development of each river basin such as the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin as the fundamental planning entity, and only then will we be able to develop water resources in a way that can maximise the net benefits.

This was stated by National Planning Commission member Dr Ramesh Anand Vaidya in remarks at the thematic sessions and regional meetings of the ministerial conference of the Hague on water security in the 2lst century held from March 2l to 22.

Dr Vaidya said the annual internal renewable water resource per person in this region is declining rapidly and getting close to the water stress level of 1700 cum per person, adding that although Nepal is regarded as endowed heavily with this resource, the number for this country is only slightly higher than the global average.

Asking whether the scarcity of water should be the key consideration in decisions pertaining to the allocation of water for various uses and whether the use of this consideration in setting prices for these uses  would  help efficient use of water, he said there are a number of goals related to the use of water including food security, energy supply, navigation, drinking water and sanitation and the environment.

Calling for a move away from the infrastructure focus of the past to a focus on water as a unitary resource irrespective of type of use, he said regarding financing policy that given the current priorities of the international development banks, there is a need to explore in detail the avenues for raising funds from the private sector, both domestic and international.

The primary goal of private financing is to provide service in a cost-efficient way, and to achieve this goal, government and the private sector would have to work together for risk management, he said. The private investor can be attract only when a conducive business environment is created.

On subsidy policy, he said it is necessary to look at both the food and energy policy, and for successful implementation of hydropower, it may be necessary to attract private capital, which can only come if there is   a fair rate of return on investment.

This could mean it may no longer be possible to subsidise food prices across the board indirectly by subsidising electricity prices for pumping up ground water for irrigation, he said.

Alternative food policies may have to be developed and cooperation sought from the concerned ministries so that food subsidies could be provided to target groups below the poverty line, he added.

Pointing out that over the last five years, Bangladesh, India and Nepal   have made several breakthroughs and signed path-breaking treaties in their negotiations for water­-sharing and the development of water resources in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, he said although Nepal covers only 8 per cent of the land area and the development of water transportation is not easy in this country, it is well endowed in terms of water resources.

Nepal’s strength lies both in terms of the head over which the water falls and the volume of water that flows through, the three river systems of the Gandaki, Kosi and Karnali contribute about 71 per cent of the dry-season flows and 41 per cent of the annual flow of the Ganges, he said.

In the sub-region of the gbm basin, development efforts in water resources would, in addition to flood control in the region, help irrigate the fertile plains of india, improve the waterways of Bangladesh, and generate hydropower in Nepal to help meet the energy needs of the region.

However, it would be possible to raise capital in the financial markets only if the system boundary of multipurpose projects in Nepal could be expanded to include the benefits occurring in neighboring countries. It would be necessary to look at the flood control and irrigation benefits as internal within a system boundary and not as positive externalities of the projects in Nepal, he said.