In 1992, more than two hundred thousand Tamil migrants fled Banglore, India’s Silicon Valley, after riots erupted over sharing a river. By then, the two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had been quarrelling over their shares of the river Cauvery for a hundred years.
Ironically, while India’s water sharing agreements with Pakistan have survived military conflicts, those between its own states have not yielded satisfactory results.
With this in mind, the Union water resources minister introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha on March 14, calling it a” revolutionary step” towards resolving water conflicts between states. The Inter-States River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 seeks to amend a 61-year-old Act and install a single overarching tribunal to settle water-related disputes.
Under the existing 1956 Bill, river disputes between states could be settled by the Central government appointing a tribunal, who would look into the matter and deliver an ‘award’ – the allocation of water determined fair for each state. These tribunals would have the final say in the matter – article 252 (2) of the Indian Constitution bars the Supreme Court from interfering with their judgements on inter-state river disputes.
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