"Punjab is one of those six states in the country which feels it is not necessary to enact legislation on control and development of groundwater resources,' said union water resources minister Saifuddin Soz. The other five states are Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Mnipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Incidentally, in neighbouring Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, initiatives are being taken for enactment of the Model Bill circulated by the Centre while Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh belong to the category that had already enacted and implemented the groundwater legislation. Apparently, Punjab does not want to take any step in this direction as it would mean antagonising farmers. To enable the states enact groundwater legislation, the ministry of water resources had circulated a Model Bill to regulate and control development of groundwater. Enactment of groundwater legislation, adoption of artificial recharge techniques, awareness and training programmes on groundwater issues, scientific development of groundwater and achieving the mandate of central groundwater authority, are perceived to be the keys to achieve regulation, control and management of precious groundwater in the country. Talking to The Tribune, Soz said that in the past four years he had pursued the issue with the Punjab government several times. He reminded present Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his predecessor Amarinder Singh that watertable in the state was going down and the groundwater had been exploited to dangerous levels in several districts. " Water is a state subject and it is important that the state must do something to conserve it. Not just Parkash Singh Badal, I had also written to former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that water was an important issue for an agricultural state like Punjab and that something must be done to control and develop the groundwater resources. But it seems that lot of politics got mixed up with the proposition, which is unfortunate,' Soz said, adding that just two months back he had written to Badal, explaining how groundwater situation needed urgent attention. Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Lakshdweep, Kerala, Pondicherry, West Bengal, Bihar and Dadra and Nagar Haveli are those 11 states and union territories where the Centre-circulated Model Bill has been enacted and implemented. There are 18 other states in the country where state governments and UT administrations are taking initiatives for enactment of the Bill.