Question : Inter-State River Water Sharing Disputes

(a) the details and the current status of each of the inter-State river water sharing dispute in the country including Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and National Capital Territory of Delhi along with agreements signed between the States for the purpose;
(b) the quantum of water demanded by the States and being supplied to each State in the country at present from each of the rivers involved in such disputes;
(c) the details/names of the Committees/ Boards/Authorities/Tribunals constituted/ to be constituted for resolving the disputes along with the progress achieved in regard to water sharing, if any, so far; and
(d) the steps taken/to be taken by the Government to resolve all the inter-State river water sharing disputes along with efforts made to ensure that due share of water from the rivers involved in disputes is released to the concerned States without any hurdle?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION
(PROF. SANWAR LAL JAT)

(a) to (c) On the complaint made by the State Governments, the Central Government has, so far, set up 08 Tribunals to settle water disputes among the States under the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956. The present status of various Inter -State water disputes over the sharing of river water is at Annexure.
In the past, some of the States had resolved their disputes on water sharing or joint projects through mutual discussions and agreements with/without the direct intervention of the Central Government. As such this Ministry does not maintain relevant record. However, as per information available in Central Water Commission publication “Agreements on Inter-State Rivers”, Vol. III of Legal Instruments on Rivers in India, about 114 inter-State agreements have been reached so far (A substantive number of these agreements, reached before and after independence, have become obsolete/superseded by fresh agreements/decision of Tribunals).
Contd…p/2

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Agreements involving Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and National Capital Territory of Delhi are:
• The agreement between Rajasthan and Gujarat regarding sharing of Mahi waters (1966),
• Memorandum of Understanding among U.P, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi in 1994 on the issue of sharing of Yamuna waters,
• Agreement of 1981 on allocation of surplus Ravi Beas water among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and
• Agreement of 1959 between Rajasthan and erstwhile Punjab on Bhakra Nangal project.
Besides share of basin states in Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery basins have been determined by the concerned Tribunals.
Parties to Agreements/decision of Tribunals are entitled to their share of water in concerned river basin as per provisions of such Agreements/decision of Tribunals. This Ministry does not maintain such records. However, supply of water to concerned States varies on year to year basis depending mainly on availability of water in the basin/reservoirs in a particular year and other relevant factors and is monitored by the concerned Board/Authority/regulatory body functioning in a particular river basin project.
(d) The mechanism for settlement of water disputes is already available in the form of ISRWD Act, 1956. The ISRWD Act-1956 has been last amended in 2002 whereby adjudication of the water disputes by tribunals has been made time bound after consultation with all state governments. Further, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation adopted a revised National Water Policy (NWP) in 2012. As per Clause 12.2 of the Policy, a permanent Water Disputes Tribunal at the Centre should be established to resolve the disputes expeditiously in an equitable manner. However, the proposal to set up a standing tribunal to adjudicate interstate river water disputes is still at a conceptual stage.

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