Cooperative federalism in resource-sharing requires both institutional architecture and political will. Evaluate the role of the Centre in resolving the decades-long Rajasthan-Haryana Yamuna water dispute, and discuss what this implies for other pending inter-state water conflicts.

Q. Cooperative federalism in resource-sharing requires both institutional architecture and political will. Evaluate the role of the Centre in resolving the decades-long Rajasthan-Haryana Yamuna water dispute, and discuss what this implies for other pending inter-state water conflicts. (15 marks, 250 words)

The June 2026 Rajasthan-Haryana agreement to channel Yamuna surplus to arid Shekhawati settled a near three-decade impasse rooted in the 1994 Upper Yamuna River Board allocation [1]. Achieved by negotiation, not tribunal, it tests whether the Centre can supply both the institutional scaffolding and the political will that cooperative federalism demands.

Centre's role — strengths - Executive brokerage: the Home Ministry, beyond the nodal Jal Shakti Ministry, chaired the talks, lending political weight to break the deadlock [1]. - Institutional continuity: UYRB and the Upper Yamuna Review Committee sustained technical dialogue and DPR preparation across successive years [2]. - Consensus over litigation: transferring only monsoon surplus/flood water (previously flowing unused to the sea) reframed a zero-sum fight as mutual gain, benefiting Haryana's Bhiwani-Fatehabad too [3].

Limitations - A bilateral executive compact lacks the finality of a tribunal award under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956; durability hinges on continued political goodwill. - Year-round supply awaits upstream dams (Renukaji, Lakhwar, Kishau), each carrying its own multi-state uncertainty [3]. - Success rested on aligned governments — a fragile precondition.

Implications: for Cauvery, Krishna and the Sutlej-Yamuna Link, it shows Article 262 machinery works best when the Centre acts as an active facilitator rather than passive adjudicator, and when unutilised or fresh-storage water expands the pie. Institutionalising such mediation—perhaps via a standing Article 263 mechanism—can convert episodic goodwill into durable water federalism.

(~250 words)

Sources: 1. Governments of Rajasthan and Haryana ink agreement for Yamuna Water Project — PIB — Centre-brokered settlement of the near 30-year dispute; 1994 UYRB allocation 2. 9th Meeting of Upper Yamuna Review Committee, chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister — PIB — institutional continuity via UYRB/UYRC 3. Yamuna Flood Water to Shekhawati Region of Rajasthan — PIB — use of surplus/flood water; upstream dam dependence