(1)   

These rules may be called The Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Rules, 2002.

(2)   

They extend to the whole of Andhra Pradesh State.

(3)   

They shall come in to force from the date of publication.

2.

In these rules, the context otherwise requires:-

(1)   

“Act” means the Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act, 2002;

(2)   

“Authority” means the Andhra Pradesh State Water, Land and Trees Authority constituted under the Act;

(3)   

“Member Secretary” means the member secretary of the Andhra Pradesh State Water, Land and Trees Authority.

(4)   

Words and Expressions used in the Act shall apply to these rules also.

(1)   

(i)                The Government may designate any officer as an Administrator who shall assist the Authority in discharging its duties.

(ii)              The Authority may take on deputation such other officers or members of staff subordinate to the Administrator either on contract basis or from the surplus manpower cell.

(2)   

The member Secretary of the District Authority shall assist the District Authority in its work and the District Authority ma take on contract basis or from the surplus manpower cell such other officers or the staff to assist the Member Secretary.

(3)   

The Member Secretary of the Mandal Authority shall assist the Mandal Authority in its work and the Mandal Authority may take on contract basis or from the surplus manpower cell suc other officers or the staff to assist the Member Secretary.

(4)   

The Authority under the provisions of section 5 the Act, may designate the officers from the departments such as Ground Water, Rural Development, Panchayath Raj, Forest or any other department or agency as deemed necessary to work as Designated or Technical Officers for the purpose of the Act by a separate order.

(5)   

The power of designating the officers at District and mandal level may be delegated by the State Authority to the District and Mandal level Authorities respectively.

4.       

The term of office of the nominated members of the Authority except those nominated under clause (k) of subsection (2) of section (3) shall be three (3) years from the date of their appointment.

5.       

(1)   

A nominated member o the Authority may resign from his office  by giving thirty (30) days notice to the Chairman.

(2)   

The power to accept the resignation of a member shall vest with the Chairman who on accepting the resignation shall report to the Authority during it’s next meeting.

(3)   

Whenever a nominated member of the Authority resigns or dies  or is removed from the office or becomes incapable of acting.  Government may by notification in the official gazette appoint a person in the said vacancy.

Provided that a person so appointed in the said vacancy shall hold office only for the residue of the period.

6.     

The Government may remove any non-official member from his office if he is of unsound mind, or convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, or fails to attend more than three successive meetings of the Authority without prior approval of the Chairman.

7.       

(1)   

The non-official members of the Authority shall be entitled to the travelling and daily allowances as admissible to Grade-I officers of the state for attending the meetings or any other work assigned by the Authority.  They should produce a certificate that they have not claimed Travelling Allowance and Dearness Allowance for the same period elsewhere.

(2)   

The Authority may designate an officer of the Authority as the controlling officer in respect of payment of allowances.

8.     

(1)   

(a)      The District Collector

(b)     One Member of Parliament and two members of the Legislative Assembly as nominated by the Government .  Out of two members of Legislative Assembly, one shall be preferably from main opposition political party.

(c)      Three Mandal parishad Presidents and two Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency members to be nominated by the Ex-officio Chairman of the District Authority.

(d)     Joint Director, Agriculture

(e)      Superintending Engineer, Irrigation

(f)       Superintending Engineer,    Rural Water Supply

(g)      Deputy Director,                   Ground Water Department

(h)      Deputy Director,                   Mines&Geological Department

(i)        Deputy Conservator of Forests (Planning & Extension) or Territorial Divisional Forest Officer.

(j)       Project Officer / Integrated  Tribal Development Agency / MADA / PTG

(k)     Regional officer, Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board.

(l)        Chief Executive Officer,             Zilla Parishad.

(m)    An official from Hyderabad Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board, in respect of Rangareddy and Hyderabad Districts

(n)      One official from Municipal Administration Department

(o)     Other Non Official persons not exceeding five, who in the opinion of the Ex-officio Chairman of District Authority  are interested in the conservation of natural resources of which one shall belong to Scheduled Caste, one to the Scheduled Tribe and one shall be a woman.

(p)     Director, Urban Forestry, HUDA in respect of Hyderabad and Rangareddy Districts.

(q)     Project Director, Drought Prone Area Programme / District Water Management Agency.

Ex-Officio Chairman

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Members

Non-Official Members

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-Officio Member – Secretary.

(2)   

The term of the office of Non Official members shall be three years from the date of appointment and they are entitled to the allowances as admissible to Grade-I officers of the State.

(3)   

Resignation or removal of the members of the District Authority shall be governed in the same manner as prescribed under rules 5 and 5 of these rules.

(4)   

The quorum to conduct a meeting of the District Authority shall be one third of the total number of the members.

9.     

(1)   

The Government may by notification constitute the Mandal Authority as follows:-

(a)      Mandal Revenue Officer of the concerned Mandal.

(b)     Mandal Development Officer

(c)      Sarpanch of the Mandal Headquarter Gram Panchayat

(d)     Two Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency Members of the concerned mandal to be nominated by the Ex-officio Chairman of the Mandal Authority with the approval of Ex-officio Chairman of the District Authority.

(e)      Assistant Executive Engineer, Irrigation department.

(f)       An Officer from Ground Water department.

(g)      Assistant Director,            Agriculture Department.

(h)      Assistant Project Director, Integrated Tribal Development Agency.

(i)        Forest Range Officer of the nearest Range.

(j)       Three non-official members of whom, one shall be a woman, who is the opinion of the Es-officio Chairman of Mandal Authority are interested in conservation of natural resources or presidents of the Water Users Association or Vana Samrakshana Samithi or Water Association with the approval of the Es-officio Chairman of the District Authority.

(k)     Assistant Executive Engineer, Rural Water Supply.

Ex-Officio Chairman

Note: In the Scheduled Areas, a Scheduled Tribe Candidate shall be nominated.  In the predominantly Scheduled Castes Mandal, one of the members shall be from Scheduled Caste.

(2)   

The term of the office of Non Official members shall be three years from the date of appointment.

(3)   

The Mandal Authority shall conduct meetings and perform such functions as delegated under section 6 and prescribed under section 3(6) of the Act, and other functions as directed by the Government.  The Mandal Authority may utilise the services of the Designated Officers and technical officers in discharging of its functions.

(4)   

The quorum to conduct meeting of the Mandal authority shall be one third of the total number of the members.

10. 

(1)   

The time, date and place of the meeting of the State, District and Mandal Authorities shall be fixed by the Member Secretary of the respective authorities with the approval of its Chairman.

(2)   

The District Authority may conduct meetings and perform such functions as delegated under subsection-6 of section 3 of the Act and other functions as directed by the Government and will report to the State Authority.  The District Authority may utilise the services of the Designated Officers and Technical Officers in discharging of its functions.

(3)   

Seven clear days notice of an ordinary meeting and three clear days notice of a special meeting along with the agenda notes if any, shall be given by the Member Secretary to the members.

(4)   

Any particular meeting may adjourn from day to day or to any particular day and no fresh notice shall be required for an adjourned meeting.