Interstate Rivers and Water Disputes in India

Interstate river water disputes in India arise from competing demands over shared water resources among riparian states. The federal distribution of water resources, seasonal rainfall variations, and growing agrarian and industrial needs lead to frequent legal and political conflicts over river water allocation, dam construction, and reservoir operation.

Constitutional and Statutory Framework

The Constitution of India outlines the legislative competence of the Union and the States regarding water resources through specific entries across the Seventh Schedule.

• Entry 17 of the State List (List II): Empowers State legislatures to enact laws on water supplies, irrigation, canals, drainage, embankments, water storage, and water power, subject to Entry 56 of List I.
• Entry 56 of the Union List (List I): Grants Parliament the power to regulate and develop interstate rivers and river valleys to the extent declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.
• Article 262 of the Constitution: Deals specifically with the adjudication of disputes relating to waters of interstate rivers or river valleys.
• Article 262(1): Allows Parliament by law to provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution, or control of the waters of, or in, any interstate river or river valley.
• Article 262(2): Permits Parliament to bar the Supreme Court or any other court from exercising jurisdiction over such interstate water disputes.

Key Parliamentary Enactments

Parliament enacted two primary legislations in 1956 under the provisions of Article 262 and Entry 56 of the Union List:

• River Boards Act, 1956: Enacted under Entry 56 of List I to enable the Central Government to establish River Boards for advising on the regulation and development of interstate rivers and river valleys. No River Board has ever been established under this Act.
• Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956: Enacted under Article 262 to provide a statutory mechanism for referring water disputes to ad hoc tribunals when bilateral negotiations between disputing states fail.

Major Interstate River Water Disputes and Tribunals

The Central Government has constituted several tribunals under the ISRWD Act, 1956, to adjudicate specific river disputes.

Mechanisms and Institutional Challenges

The adjudication of water disputes faces prolonged operational delays and enforcement hurdles.

Structural Challenges in Resolution

• Protracted Litigation: Tribunals often take decades to deliver final awards due to repeated extensions and absence of rigid statutory time limits.
• Judicial Overreach via Article 136: Disputing states frequently challenge tribunal awards before the Supreme Court through Special Leave Petitions (SLPs), bypassing the jurisdictional bar of Article 262(2).
• Data Asymmetry: Conflicting claims by states on rainfall data, river discharge, cultivable command area, and cropping patterns delay objective assessments.
• Implementation Deficits: Lack of permanent administrative machinery or supervisory boards to implement tribunal awards during distress water years.

Institutional Reforms: The ISRWD (Amendment) Bill

• Single Permanent Tribunal: Proposes dissolving existing ad hoc tribunals and creating a single Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal with multiple benches.
• Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC): Mandates setting up a DRC comprising experts to resolve disputes amicably through negotiations within one year before referring matters to the tribunal.
• Fixed Timelines: Mandates that the tribunal submit its final report within two years, extendable by one year.
• National Water Data System: Proposes establishing a transparent, centrally maintained digital database on river basins across India.

Key Facts on Interstate Water Disputes

• The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal I was headed by Justice R.S. Bachawat and delivered its final award in 1973.
• The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal was headed by Justice V. Ramaswami and finalized allocations among four riparian states in 1979.
• The Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal is a planned 214-kilometer-long canal designed to enable Haryana to utilize its share of Ravi and Beas waters.
• The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) were constituted in 2018 to operationalize the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal as modified by the Supreme Court.
• The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that river waters are a national asset and no single state can claim exclusive ownership over an interstate river.
• The Godavari River Basin is the second-largest river basin in India after the Ganga Basin.
• The Kalasa-Banduri project is a drinking water project undertaken by Karnataka to divert water from the Mahadayi river basin to the Malaprabha river basin.
• The Polavaram Multi-Purpose National Irrigation Project is being constructed on the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.
• Under the Helsinki Rules (1966) and the Berlin Rules (2004), equitable and reasonable utilization serves as the standard international legal principle for sharing transboundary watercourses.
• The Hirakud Dam on the Mahanadi River in Odisha is one of the longest earthen dams in the world.
• The Mullaperiyar Dam dispute involves Kerala and Tamil Nadu regarding safety and water storage levels; the dam is located in Kerala but operated by Tamil Nadu under a 999-year lease agreement signed in 1886.
• The Central Water Commission (CWC), an attached office of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, functions as the premier technical organization in the field of water resources development in India.