The government formed the National River Conservation Commission a decade ago to protect the country’s rivers. Although the commission was established following a directive from the High Court, there was no determination of what kind of watercourse would be considered a river. For the first time, the proposed National River Conservation Commission (Amendment) Act will include a definition of a river.

According to the draft law, any watercourse originating from mountains, lakes, glaciers, streams, or any other reservoir or water source and flowing throughout the year or at any time of the year between two banks before joining seas, oceans, lakes, or other water bodies will be defined as a river.

River experts said this definition will make it easier to identify many canals in the country as rivers. It will also help prevent the tendency of government agencies to classify rivers as canals in order to facilitate projects under the pretext of canal excavation.