River Boards Act 1956
Topic: Federalism and Centre-State Relations · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The River Boards Act 1956 is a central law that allows boards to be set up for inter-state rivers. These boards would advise the governments concerned on regulating and developing a river shared by states. The idea was to prevent quarrels by planning together. However, no board has ever been set up under this Act. This is why experts call for river-basin management.
Example
States sharing a river like the Cauvery could have had a board to plan water use jointly. Instead, the dispute went to a tribunal and then to the Supreme Court, because the River Boards Act was never used.
Don't confuse with
- Inter-State River Water Disputes Act 1956: this companion law of the same year sets up tribunals that decide disputes. The River Boards Act was meant for advisory boards and has never been used.
Related concepts
- Inter-state river water disputes
- Inter-State River Water Disputes Act 1956
- Inter-state water disputes tribunal
- Cauvery water dispute
- Cauvery Water Management Authority
- Narmada water dispute
- Ravi-Beas water dispute
- Inter-state border disputes
- Belgaum border dispute