Answer:

Depleting groundwater, drying rivers, insufficient rainfall and increasing demand for water have led to disputes between states over sharing of river water. It is a pressing issue for the Indian federal system due to:

♤ Water being a subject in the state list leads to conflicting claims, which act as a detrimental factor against cooperative federalism.

♤ Politicisation of the issue due to involvement of local public leading to adoption of hardline approach by political leaders of disputing states and making it an emotive issue.

♤ Inordinate delay in securing settlement of such disputes as there is no time limit for adjudication. For example, tribunals for Cauvery, Ravi and Beas disputes have been in existence for over 26 and 30 years respectively without any award.

♤ Non-compliance of tribunal awards by States is the critical weak link in dispute resolution and leads to further enmity between states.

The resolution of these disputes is addressed by Article 262 of the Indian Constitution under which the Parliament passed the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. It has the following issues:

♤ Separate tribunal for each Inter-state river water dispute. This further slows down the process due to work on appointment of judges, assessors and other experts.

♤ No provision for an adequate machinery to enforce the award of the Tribunal.

♤ Lack of uniform standards, which can be applied in resolving such disputes.

♤ Lack of adequate resources, both physical and human, to objectively assess the facts of the case.

The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has the potential to streamline the adjudication of inter-state river water disputes and make the present legal and institutional architecture robust through the following provisions:

♤ Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) to be established by the Central Government before referring to the tribunal, to resolve the dispute amicably by negotiations within one year.

♤ Establishment of a single Inter-State River Water Dispute Tribunal, which can have multiple benches.

♤ Time limit on a Tribunal to give its decision on the dispute within two years, which may be extended by another year.

♤ The decision of the Tribunal shall be final and binding. The bill removes the requirement of publication of decision in the official gazette in the original Act.

♤ It makes mandatory for the Central Government to make a scheme to give effect to the decision of the Tribunal.

♤ Data collection and maintenance of a databank at national level for each river basin by an agency to be appointed by the Central government. It will help in continuous evaluation of the river basins.

♤ Composition and tenure of members of a tribunal is clearly defined.

However, there are fears of over-centralisation and Supreme Court hearing appeals against water tribunal rendering the decisions as not final. So, additional measures can be taken such as bringing water in the concurrent list, river-interlinking and use of Inter- State Council (ISC) in facilitating dialogue and discussion towards resolving conflicts.