India mulls integrated water disputes tribunal

It has now been proven often enough that disputes arising over water are growing. In India, transboundary water problems are also rising.

For once, the Indian government seems to have taken a proactive approach. The Water Resources Ministry is mulling setting up an integrated water disputes tribunal that will become the one-stop forum to deal with all inter-state water disputes in the country.

The move is expected to save the Ministry time and effort in setting up separate tribunals as and when water disputes erupt between states, besides ensuring uniformity in awards, without inviting any political protests.

Over the past few years, similar tribunals have been set up for several sectors, including power and telecom. They have functioned well despite limitations.

Since water, or lack of it, is now turning out to be a cause for concern, the timing could not be better. Water disputes are expected to rise with erach passing year.

Already, there are five tribunals in India, one each for the Ravi-Beas dispute between Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab; Krishna dispute between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; Cauvery dispute between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala; Vansdhara dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and, the Mahedyi dispute between Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.

To set up an integrated tribunal would not be an easy task. It would also take several months. Afterall, there have to be discussions on the integrated tribunal.

Also, it would require an amendment of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act 1956. The whole process could take over a a year to complete as it requires several clearances and amendments.

Experts have suggested that at the same time, there should be an effort to develop and strengthen an alternate disputes resolution mechanism so that whenever the tribunal is set up, it does not get inundated with unnecessary disputes.