The Hindu : SHARING RIVER WATERS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 08, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

SHARING RIVER WATERS

THE BROAD AGREEMENT reached between Tamil Nadu and Kerala to revise the Parambikulam-Aliyar inter-State water accord, which lapsed in 1988, clearly signals that the best way forward in resolving such disputes lies in negotiation and conciliation, not adjudication. After several rounds of discussion, the two States crafted a mutually acceptable formulation at the ministerial-level meeting on Sunday. All that remains is for the two Chief Ministers to sign the accord after some minor unresolved issues are sorted out. The Parambikulam-Aliyar agreement has proved that if States demonstrate a degree of flexibility in sharing the available water, no inter-State river water dispute is intractable. It has been Tamil Nadu's case that Kerala is not releasing the stipulated 16.5 thousand million cubic feet of water and the average inflow has been of the order of 10 tmcft over the years. Kerala has been asking Tamil Nadu to maintain the full level at the Kerala Sholayar dam by September 1 and February 1 every year, by releasing sufficient water. The peculiar flow pattern of this system has posed several problems to the two States, affecting both irrigation and drinking water supplies in the regions that the system feeds.

Commendable as this provisional agreement on Parambikulam is, the two States have other contentious issues to be resolved. They should extend the same spirit of accommodation to find a modus vivendi on the controversy over raising the level of the Periyar dam (Mullaiperiyar). Kerala has been opposing the suggestion from Tamil Nadu, which has backed its claim with a technical study to show that the increase in height will not weaken the structure. Tamil Nadu has a problem with a weir that Kerala is constructing on the Cauvery. It has not only objected to the move, but also taken the issue to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. A disputatious approach is not only time consuming, but, what is worse, adversely affects relations between neighbouring States. Although the Centre can set up a tribunal under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act (ISWDA) of 1956 to resolve such disputes, there is no law or authority to enforce the award of a tribunal. That is a lacuna in the Act.

Given the reality of inter-State river water disputes, which are sharpened when there is little surplus water to share and when the monsoons let the beneficiaries down, the Centre has to come up with a more implementable law and a more practical mechanism that can prevent disputes from sharpening and when that is not possible resolve them on an objective and amicable basis. Looking at the international and national frameworks that exist in the area of dispute resolution, the Helsinki Rules or principles and the ISWDA appear to provide the most viable and fair formulations for watersharing. The Helsinki Rules could serve as guidelines to implement Tribunal awards or agreements arising out of dispute resolution. The basic flaw with the ISWDA however seems to be its jump from negotiation to adjudication, without any intermediate, voluntary processes such as mediation, conciliation or arbitration. The Sarkaria Commission, which went into inter-State water disputes and their resolution, noted that the Centre lacked any means to enforce an award should any State refuse to give effect to it, either fully or partially. The law needs to be amended to render a Tribunal award enforceable as if it were an order or decree of the Supreme Court. Instead of having to take recourse to the courts and souring normal relations between neighbouring States, there should be engagement in a dialogue until an amicable settlement, which is implementable, can be reached. By politicising such disputes, Governments are making it difficult to find and accept mature solutions that will benefit the people of India.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT SAFTA

SHARING RIVER WATERS

The education wars

The ruins hold the answers

An onerous responsibility