Question : Amendment to ISRWD Act

(a) whether the Union Government seeks to amend the Inter State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956 to streamline the adjudication of Inter State river water disputes and if so, the details thereof along with the tribunals constituted so far;
(b) whether the Union Government had constituted Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal in December, 2009 for adjudication of the water disputes with State of Karnataka and Maharashtra and if so, details of the Tribunal’s award;
(c) whether the Union Government has issued a notification on sharing the waters of Mahadayi and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government of Karnataka has submitted three Memorandums to the Union Government recently and if so, the details thereof and the action taken on the matter; and
(e) the details of Kalasa Banduri Nala Project?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
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(a) The Parliament has enacted Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956 for adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers and river valley thereof. A Bill namely, Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has been passed by Lok Sabha on 31.07.2019. The Bill seeks to streamline the adjudication of inter-State river water disputes and make the present legal and institutional architecture robust by amending the existing ISRWD Act, 1956. The proposed Bill seeks to provide for a single permanent Tribunal instead of multiple Tribunals. Enactment of the ISRWD (Amendments) Bill will facilitate faster adjudication of water disputes.

The Central Government has, so far, set up 09 tribunals to settle water disputes among the States under the ISRWD Act, 1956.

(b) The Central Government constituted the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) by Notification dated 16th November, 2010 under Section 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 for adjudication of the water disputes relating to the inter-State river Mahadayi, and the river valley thereof. The MWDT submitted its report under Section 5(2) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 to the Central Government on 14.08.2018.

(c) The Central Government has notified the Award and Final Decision of the MWDT given on 14.08.2018 in the Gazette of India vide notification No. S.O. 888(E). dated 27.02.2020.

(d) The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka vide letters dated 28.10.2019 and 06.08.2019 requested the Central Government to publish the decision of the MWDT given under Section 5(2) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 in the Official Gazette of India. Also, the Hon’ble Minister for Water Resources, Government of Karnataka vide letter dated 25.02.2020 requested the Central Government for notification of the decision/final order of the MWDT.

(e) As per the information furnished by Government of Karnataka, two Dams, one across Kalasa Nala and another across Banduri Nala, tributaries of Mahadayi river have been proposed to divert water to Malaprabha river for meeting drinking water supply of Hubli-Dharwad twin cities, Kundagol town, en route villages, etc.

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