ANNOUNCEMENTS
Water disputes are not a recent phenomenon; it has a long history and continues to be a global and regional problem. Rivers cannot be confined by political boundaries, and therefore, conflict is inevitable. Inter-state water disputes mostly pertain to river water sharing. These disputes have the potential to cause regional instability and security issues.
In India “Inter- state water dispute stand at the intersection of two branches of law: federalism under constitutional law, and water law. India is a federal democracy, and because rivers cross State boundaries, constructing efficient and equitable mechanisms for allocating river flows has long been an imperative legal and constitutional subject.”
Inter- State water disputes mostly pertain to sharing of river waters and the terms of the agreements, and the leading causes are the formation of new States and construction of large water infrastructural projects for irrigation. In the case of India, it is not merely the scarcity of water, but the inadequacy, opaqueness and ambiguity of the available institutional structures that lead to these conflicts. In order to put an end to water disputes between States, it is imperative that we comprehend the circumstances that have enabled the emergence and the protracted lingering of these disputes. Better mechanisms and greater efforts are required to address these kinds of disputes.
The study reviews and analyses the factors responsible for the emergence, recurrence, and protraction of the Ravi- Beas River Dispute and the politics and its implications in the prolongations of the dispute. With the background of the SYL canal project the study reviews and analyses the implications of the National River interlinking project on the Inter-State River Water Disputes. This project might have serious ecological consequences and could result in multiplying the inter-State River water disputes in the country. The Inter- State River Water Dispute (Amendment) Bill, 2019 does offer a permanent tribunal but that does not seem promising in offering any long-term solution for resolving these water disputes amongst the States.
