Drinking water and sanitation gets separate ministry

New Delhi : Drinking water, the precious vanishing resource, for the first time merits an independent portfolio. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh created a new ministry of drinking water and sanitation that will be looked after by Mumbai leader Gurudas Kamat.

Kamat, former minister of state for home, will hold the independent charge as the minister of state of drinking water and sanitation, carved out of the rural development ministry.

The department of drinking water and sanitation already has a separate office in Paryavaran Bhawan in south Delhi's Lodhi Road.