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Changes Proposed To Quickly Resolve Water Sharing Disputes

The document discusses proposed changes to the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act of 1956 in India. The key changes proposed are: 1) Establishing a single tribunal with multiple benches to resolve inter-state water disputes within 2 years, replacing existing multiple tribunals; 2) Giving the tribunal's award the status of a Supreme Court order; 3) Maintaining a national data bank on river basins. The proposals aim to more quickly resolve water sharing disputes between states.

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Sunil Naik
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25 views

Changes Proposed To Quickly Resolve Water Sharing Disputes

The document discusses proposed changes to the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act of 1956 in India. The key changes proposed are: 1) Establishing a single tribunal with multiple benches to resolve inter-state water disputes within 2 years, replacing existing multiple tribunals; 2) Giving the tribunal's award the status of a Supreme Court order; 3) Maintaining a national data bank on river basins. The proposals aim to more quickly resolve water sharing disputes between states.

Uploaded by

Sunil Naik
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Changes proposed sharing disputes

to quickly

resolve

water

Under the Indian Constitution, water is a state subject and the Central Government's role is in the form of overall policy formulation, coordination, guidance and general infrastructural, technical and research support. As a subjectmatter it occupies Entry 56 and Entry 17 of List I and List II respectively. While Entry 17 of List II gives the State Legislature exclusive power to legislate on water-related infrastructural projects like irrigation, drainage, storage and power; that power is subject to Entry 56 of List I which gives the Parliament exclusive power notwithstanding anything in the Constitution. Article 262 of the Constitution provides for a specific law enacted by Parliament to adjudicate these disputes and barring the jurisdiction of all courts, including the Supreme Court, on the same. The Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956 (IRWD Act) was first enacted on 28 August 1956 by the Indian parliament under Article 262 on the eve of reorganization of states on linguistic basis to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley. The Centre has recently proposed crucial changes in the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 to quickly resolve water sharing disputes between basin States and to give a tribunals award the status of an order/decree of the Supreme Court. The following are the proposed changes:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

It has been proposed to appoint an agency to maintain a data bank at the national level for each river basin. Union Water Resources Ministry unfolded its draft amendments to the Act on 21 Jan 2013. It provides for a single tribunal in place of multiple tribunals to adjudicate on inter-State water disputes in a fixed time-frame of two years, which may be extended by one year. Water Resources Secretary D.V. Singh said that the concerns on the draft which come up at the meeting of Stat Irrigation Secretaries would be discussed. However, it was clarified that there would be an enabling clause to provide two separate benches to look after the balance work of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Ravi Beas Water Tribunal. It is proposed that the single tribunal shall have eight members including a chairperson and vicechairperson, and initially the members of the existing tribunals who are below (the new upper age limit of) 70 years would constitute the tribunal. The tribunal shall comprise three benches and once a dispute is referred to it, the chairman shall assign it to a Bench. If there is a vacancy on a Bench then, a member of another shall hear the matter till the vacancy is filled so that the disputes are not kept pending on account of a vacancy.

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