Water In CoI
- Entry 17 of state list
- Entry 56 of union list
- Article 262: Parl may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute
Present Resolution Mechanism
- governed by the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956
- state govt can approach the Centre to refer the dispute to a tribunal
- tribunal decision considered final.
The composition of the River Water Tribunal
- CJI
- sitting judge of SC
- other two judges who can be from SC or HC
Active River Water sharing Tribunals
- Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II (2004) – Karnataka, Telengana,Andra Pradesh, Maharashtra
- Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal (2018) – Odisha& Chattisgarh
- Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (2010)- Goa,Karnataka, Maharashtra
- Ravi & Beas Water Tribunal (1986)- Punjab, Haryana,Rajasthan
- Vansdhara Water Disputes Tribunal (2010)- Andra Pradesh & Odisha
Issues with Interstate Water Dispute Tribunals
- Protracted proceedings and extreme delays
- Opacity in the working
- composition of the tribunal is not multidisciplinary
- growing nexus between water and politics
- absence of water data that is acceptable to all parties
Measures that can be taken ⤵
- Bring Inter-state water disputes under interstate council constructed by the president under article 263 and need for consensus-based decision making.
- States must be motivated for water use efficiency
- water harvesting and water recharging to reduce the demand
- central repository of water data
- Need of a single water management agency for both ground and surface water on scientific basis
Initiatives Taken
Inter-State Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017
- Dispute Resolution Committee
- Single Permanent Tribunal (multiple benches)
- Dispute Resolution Committee
- experts from the different fields in case of water disputes.
- try to resolve the dispute within 1 year.
- The tribunal will be approached only when this committee fails to settle the dispute.
The Bill calls for :
- transparent data collection system at the national level for each river basin
- single agency to maintain data bank and information system.