Daily

Editorial
19th December 2016

Created with by ForumIAS.com - The Knowledge Network for Civil Services.

Visit http://forumias.com | New! http://forumias.academy - Prelims & Mains Test Series

Amendments to Interstate
disputes act, 1956

water

Water is one of the most important natural resource for any

country, state or human being. With time the demand for this
resource is only increasing and on the other hand supply is
decreasing. With the lesser per capita availability of water,
conflicts are escalating.
And this is what we are seeing in India. Conflicts between the
states are escalating and resolving these disputes have
become a bone of contention for the central government.
At present, there are eight Tribunals including those on
Cauvery, Mahadayi, Ravi and Beas, Vansadhara and Krishna
rivers.
A discussion regarding challenges of resolving interstate
water dispute is incomplete without knowing legal and
constitutional mechanisms to resolve it.
Lets have look at the legal and constitutional provisions.

River BoardsAct, 1956

River Boards Act enables Union Government to

create, in consultation with the State Governments,
boards to advise on the integrated development of
inter-State basins.
Boards can smoothen the process of negotiation
between the contending parties
Boards can assist the concerned Tribunal also in
expediting the dispute settlement process by
supplying necessary data.

Criticism

Constitutional and legal provisions for

interstate water dispute resolution

Functioning of such tribunals is not satisfactory as

there is delay at every stage in the working of the
tribunals.

Nature of work of the boards is advisory in nature

and is meant only for the purpose to give advice and
suggestions
Indian government has been unable to constitute a
River Board since the Act was enacted.
River Boards set up under separate legislation, but
these were set up to implement a mutually agreed
sharing agreement between States.

Constitutional provisions

Water is essentially a State subject and the Union

comes in only in the case of inter-State waters.
Article 262 of Constitution deals with adjudication of
disputes relating to matters of inter-state rivers or
river valleys.
Article 262(2) states that neither the Supreme Court
nor any other Court shall exercise jurisdiction in
respect of any such dispute.

Challenges arising due to present

adjudication system

Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956

Act provides for the adjudication of disputes relating

to waters of Inter-State Rivers and River Valleys.
The act enables setting up of tribunals to settle
disputes on Inter-State water or river, when
negotiation doesnt work.
Decisions given by the tribunals so constituted will
be final and binding and no appeal can lie in
Supreme Court.
Thus the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and other
courts is clearly barred in such matters.

Criticisms

Tribunals are only vested with decision making role,

without any implementation mechanism.

Union Government has not been able to act

decisively and has generally taken a minimalist
attitude.
Time lost in delays due to wrangling both before and
during tribunal proceedings is very costly, in terms
of:o Loss of production
o Rising cost of constructing irrigation
systems
o Loss of farmers income growth
Process to constitute tribunals and giving awards and
in pronouncements of interim Awards have been
very lengthy, that have led to further complications.
Courts are barred from reviewing the Awards of the
tribunals, but matters are still taken to the Supreme
Court on related issues.
After an Award is given, there are problems of
interpretation and implementation
States are becoming resistant to compliance with
Awards of tribunals in spite of express provisions in
the Constitution regarding the finality of such awards

Created with by ForumIAS.com - The Knowledge Network for Civil Services.

Visit http://forumias.com | New! http://forumias.academy - Prelims & Mains Test Series

i.e. Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central

Ground Water Board (CGWB).

Most challenging aspect is that there is no

mechanism to enforce the binding character of such
Awards.

Amendments proposed to
water disputes act, 1956

Interstate

Why single tribunal

A decision to approve an amendment to the Act was taken at

the Union Cabinets meeting held earlier this week. The
amendment is likely to be introduced in Parliament in its next
session.
Some of the following are proposed changes to the act:-

Practice of creating a tribunal every time as an

interstate water dispute crop up has been subject to
criticisms from experts.
These tribunals also face criticisms due to taking
inordinate amount of time and not resolving the
problems effectively.
These problems will be solved by a permanent single
tribunal.

Single permanent tribunal

Centre has decided to set up a single, permanent

Tribunal to adjudicate all inter-State river water
disputes.
Tribunal will be aimed at resolving grievances of
States in a speedy manner. This body will subsume
existing tribunals.
Government has also proposed to float some
Benches by amending the Inter-State Water
Disputes Act, 1956.

Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC)

Along with the tribunal, the amendment proposes to

set up Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC).
The DRC, comprising experts and policy-makers, is
proposed to handle disputes prior to the tribunal.
Whenever a State will request, the Centre will set up
a DRC.
Most disputes will get resolved at the DRCs level
itself. But if a State is not satisfied, it can approach
the tribunal.

Would setting up single tribunal solve

the problem?

Constitution have given a significant status to

interstate water disputes, they are out of the
jurisdiction of Supreme Court or any other court.
Award gibe by these tribunals are binding in nature
but due to legal anomalies there is no enforcement
mechanism.
Non-compliance of award by states has been the
most challenging problem.

And this challenge remains unresolved even if there is

Conclusion

Data agency

Amendment to the 1956 law also seeks to create an

agency to collect and maintain all relevant water
data, like rainfall, water flow and irrigation area, in
each of the river basins of the country.
Data will come handy in resolving the water
disputes.
A specialized agency would ensure that this kind of
data is always available, in updated form, and does
not need to be collected after a dispute has arisen.
The government has proposed a new National Water
Commission (NWC) in place of the existing bodies

A permanent water tribunal can facilitate the just sharing of

water resources. But it should be free of the legal anomalies
of its ad hoc predecessors and also try to work around the
changing discourse of water management.

Created with by ForumIAS.com - The Knowledge Network for Civil Services.

Visit http://forumias.com | New! http://forumias.academy - Prelims & Mains Test Series