Inter-state river disputes and river linking

Detail

1. Why water disputes start

• Less water per person → competition → conflict. Each person's share of water keeps falling. Communities, regions and states then compete for it.
• Rising population and more irrigation push up demand.
• Groundwater and river water are being used up.

• Upstream and downstream users begin to fight over the same flow.

• Inter-state river: a river whose basin (the land it drains) lies in more than one state. All major basins (drainage area over 20,000 sq km) are inter-state. So are some medium basins (2,000–20,000 sq km) and a few minor ones [3].

• Upstream–downstream conflict: a project in one state on a shared river can reduce or change the flow reaching the other basin states [3].
• Class 10 example (Krishna–Godavari): Maharashtra planned to divert more water at Koyna for a multipurpose project.
• The Koyna is a tributary of the Krishna in Satara district, Maharashtra (Western Ghats).
• Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh objected, because the diversion would cut the flow reaching them downstream.

2. Constitutional and legal framework

• Water belongs to the states, with a Union override. Water is Entry 17 of the State List (List II). This entry is subject to Entry 56 of the Union List (List I): Parliament may regulate inter-state rivers where it declares this to be in the public interest [3].
• Article 262:
• 262(1): Parliament may make a law to settle disputes over the use, sharing or control of inter-state river waters [3].

• 262(2): Parliament may bar the Supreme Court and all other courts from hearing such disputes [3].

• Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956: the law made under Article 262. A state asks the Centre for help. If talks fail, the Centre sets up an ad hoc tribunal (a special body formed for one dispute only) [3].

• A tribunal has 1 chairman + 2 members, nominated by the Chief Justice of India from sitting Supreme Court or High Court judges. Engineering and agriculture experts (assessors) help them [3].
• Section 11 keeps every court, including the Supreme Court, out of a dispute sent to a tribunal [3].

• In practice, states still reach the Supreme Court through Article 131 (disputes between the Centre and states) and Article 136 (special leave petitions). The Centre has used Article 143(1) (the President seeking the Supreme Court's opinion) [3].

• Main amendments:

Year	Change
1980	Section 6A added: the Centre can frame a scheme to carry out an award (prompted by the Narmada tribunal) [3]
1986	Section 14 added to set up the Ravi–Beas Waters Tribunal [3]
Aug 2002	Followed the Sarkaria Commission advice. Tribunal to be formed within 1 year of a request. Report due within 3 years (extendable by up to 2 years). Further report within 1 year. Once published in the Gazette, an award has the same force as a Supreme Court decree. The Centre keeps a data bank. Act renamed the ISRWD Act [3]

3. Major tribunals: a timeline

Tribunal	States	Key dates
Krishna I (Bachawat)	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh	Formed 10 Apr 1969. Report 24 Dec 1973; further report 27 May 1976 [3]
Godavari	Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha	Formed 10 Apr 1969 (same members as Krishna I). Report 27 Nov 1979; further report 7 Jul 1980 [3]
Narmada	Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan	Formed 6 Oct 1969. A 1974 agreement fixed the river's yield at 28 MAF (million acre-feet). Report 16 Aug 1978; further report 7 Dec 1979 (NCERT: 1979) [3]
Ravi–Beas	Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan	Formed 2 Apr 1986 under the 1985 Punjab Settlement. Report Jan 1987. The further report is still pending, and a Presidential Reference (Art. 143) is pending in the Supreme Court [3]
Cauvery	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry	Formed 2 Jun 1990. Interim order 1991. Final decision 5 Feb 2007; published in the Gazette 19 Feb 2013 [3]
Vansadhara	Odisha vs Andhra Pradesh (Katragada flood-flow canal)	Formed 24 Feb 2010 [3]
Mahadayi (Madei)	Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra	Goa asked in Jul 2002. Formed Nov 2010 [3]
Krishna II (Brijesh Kumar)	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh (later Telangana)	Formed Apr 2004. Report 30 Dec 2010; further report 29 Nov 2013. An extra reference followed under Sec. 89 of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 [3]

• SYL canal stalemate: the Satluj–Yamuna Link canal was meant to carry Haryana's share of Ravi–Beas water. Punjab has not finished its part, so the dispute between Punjab and Haryana is stuck.
• Talks instead of a tribunal: in the Sone dispute (Bihar's request, 27 Nov 2013; basin states Bihar, UP, MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand), the Ganga Flood Control Commission and then the CWC chairman were asked to find a settlement through negotiation [3].
• Common problems:
• Long delays. The Cauvery tribunal took about 17 years (1990–2007) to give its decision, and it was published only in 2013 [3].
• States not obeying awards (for example, the SYL canal).
• Politics. Water becomes an election issue in both upstream and downstream states.

4. Kaveri (Cauvery) water dispute

• The river: rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills, Kodagu (Western Ghats, Karnataka). It flows south-east across the Karnataka plateau and Tamil Nadu and enters the Bay of Bengal, where it forms a large delta.
• Main tributaries: Hemavati, Kabini (which flows in from Kerala), Bhavani and Amaravati.

• Mettur dam (Stanley Reservoir) is in Salem district, Tamil Nadu (Class 8, Fig. 1.13).

• Why it is hard to settle: Karnataka is upstream. Tamil Nadu's delta is downstream and depends on the river for rice. Kerala adds water through the Kabini. Puducherry (Karaikal) is at the tail end. Sharing among these four needs negotiation and careful management.

• Tribunal: formed in 1990. Final award in 2007 [3].
• Supreme Court, State of Karnataka v. State of Tamil Nadu, 16 February 2018: shares in a normal year:

Party	Share (tmcft)
Tamil Nadu	404.25
Karnataka	284.75
Kerala	30
Puducherry	7
Total for the four	726

• tmcft = thousand million cubic feet (about 28.3 million cubic metres).
• The court raised Karnataka's share. It gave two reasons:
• Bengaluru's drinking water needs.

• Groundwater available to Tamil Nadu in its delta.

• The court ordered two bodies to carry out the award (2018): the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC).

• Still in dispute: sharing in a distress year, when the monsoon fails and there is less water than normal. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu still clash over this.

5. Mahadayi (Mhadei/Mandovi) water dispute

• The river: a west-flowing river. It rises in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district, Karnataka (Bhimgad forests), enters Goa as the Mandovi, and joins the Arabian Sea at Panaji.
• States: Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Goa started the dispute in 2002, and a tribunal was formed in 2010 [3].
• Kalasa–Banduri project (Karnataka): a plan to send water from the Kalasa and Banduri streams (feeders of the Mahadayi) east into the Malaprabha, a tributary of the Krishna. The aim is drinking water for the dry north Karnataka districts (Hubballi–Dharwad, Belagavi, Gadag).

• This is an inter-basin transfer: water is moved from a west-flowing Arabian Sea basin to an east-flowing Bay of Bengal basin.

• Award, August 2018: allowed the diversion in part.

• Goa objects on ecological grounds:
• Less fresh water would reach the Mandovi estuary, so salt water would move further up the river.
• Wildlife sanctuaries in the upper catchment (Mhadei sanctuary) would be harmed.
• Goa's own drinking water supply would suffer.

6. River linking (inter-basin water transfer)

• Inter-basin transfer: moving water through canals, tunnels or lifts from a surplus basin (more water than it needs) to a deficit basin (less water than it needs).
• Examples already built (Class 11):

Scheme	From → To	States
Periyar diversion	West-flowing Periyar → east-flowing Vaigai basin (Mullaperiyar dam)	Kerala → Tamil Nadu
Indira Gandhi Canal	Satluj–Beas water at Harike barrage → Thar Desert	Punjab → Rajasthan
Kurnool–Cuddapah canal	Tungabhadra (Krishna basin) → Pennar basin	Andhra Pradesh
Beas–Satluj link	Beas → Satluj (feeds the Bhakra system)	Himachal Pradesh
Ganga–Kaveri link	Proposed: Ganga surplus → peninsular south	Several states

• National Perspective Plan (NPP), 1980: the plan of the Ministry of Irrigation (now Jal Shakti) for moving water between basins.
• NWDA (National Water Development Agency, set up in 1982) studies the links.
• It has identified 30 links: 14 in the Himalayan component and 16 in the Peninsular component.

7. Ken–Betwa Link Project (KBLP)

• First NPP link to be built: it is the first priority project under the NPP to reach the construction stage [2].
• Rivers: the Ken and the Betwa both rise in the Vindhyan–Kaimur uplands of Madhya Pradesh. Both flow north to join the Yamuna in UP. The region is Bundelkhand (MP + UP), which suffers repeated drought.
• How it works:
• Daudhan Dam, 96.7 m high, on the Ken in Panna and Chhatarpur districts, MP, about 40 km from Khajuraho [2].
• Water goes through a 216.465 km Ken–Betwa Link Canal to Barua Sagar near Jhansi in the Betwa basin [2].

• Other parts: Lower Orr Project, Kotha Barrage, Bina Complex Multipurpose Project [2].

• Benefits (planned): irrigation for 10.62 lakh ha, drinking water for about 62 lakh people, 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power [2].

• Districts: Chhatarpur, Niwari, Tikamgarh, Panna, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen (MP); Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur (UP) [2].

• Cost and status:

• Total cost ₹44,605 crore [2].
• The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone on 25 December 2024 [2].
• As of August 2026, the dam is being built but canal work has not started [2].

• Target completion: 2030 [2].

• Costs to people and nature:

• The reservoir will flood part of Panna Tiger Reserve.
• 22 villages in MP are affected: 8 in Panna and 14 in Chhatarpur [2].
• MP announced a special resettlement package in 2023 [2].

8. Polavaram Irrigation Project

• Location: on the Godavari near Ramayyapeta village, Polavaram mandal, erstwhile West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. It is about 42 km upstream of the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage, Dowlaiswaram [4].
• History:
• First proposed by the Madras Presidency in July 1941 [4].

• A 1980 agreement among the basin states on flooding was written into the Godavari tribunal's final order. Water level was fixed at +150 ft (45.72 m) [4].

• National project: declared in March 2014 under Section 90 of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.

• The Centre pays for the irrigation part from April 2014 [4].

• The Polavaram Project Authority was set up on 28 May 2014 [4].

• The link role:

• The Right Main Canal (178.81 km) drops into the Budameru river. From there, the Budameru Diversion Canal carries the water into the Krishna [4].
• The project moves 80 TMC of Godavari water to the Krishna basin [4].

• This makes Polavaram a working Godavari–Krishna link.

• Other features:

• Earth-cum-rock-fill dam, 2,454 m long [4].
• Hydropower: 960 MW (12 × 80 MW) [4].
• Irrigation for 2.91 lakh ha in four districts [4].
• Water for Visakhapatnam [4].
• Reservoir floods 601 sq km [4].

• Cost revised to ₹47,725.74 crore (2017-18 prices). The Centre had not accepted this as of March 2023 [4].

• Inter-state objections: parts of the project area are in Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha [4]. These states object to the flooding of tribal land upstream (Koya and Konda Reddi areas). They ask for protective embankments or proper resettlement.

9. The river-linking debate

For	Against
Moves water from flood-prone surplus basins (Brahmaputra, Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari) to drought-prone ones	"Surplus" may not be real. Basin water figures are disputed, and climate change makes them uncertain
More irrigated land and less risk from a failed monsoon	Lifting water across high ground (for example, the Vindhyas and the Deccan) uses a lot of power
Hydropower, drinking water and some flood control	Sediment is trapped behind dams, so deltas shrink (Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri) and sea water enters further inland
Inland navigation	High cost, forests and tiger reserves flooded (Panna), tribal people displaced
Regional growth (Bundelkhand)	New inter-state and international disputes (Himalayan links involve Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh)

Prelims Hooks

• Article 262 allows Parliament to keep courts out of water disputes. Section 11 of the ISRWD Act does exactly that. Trap: water is in the State List (Entry 17), not the Union List.
• The 2002 amendment came from the Sarkaria Commission. Tribunal formed within 1 year, report within 3 (+2) years, and the award has the force of a Supreme Court decree.
• Krishna and Godavari tribunals were both formed on 10 April 1969. Narmada followed on 6 October 1969.
• Cauvery, 16 Feb 2018: Tamil Nadu 404.25 > Karnataka 284.75 > Kerala 30 > Puducherry 7 tmcft. The body that carries it out is the CWMA.
• Mahadayi flows west and becomes the Mandovi in Goa. Kalasa–Banduri sends its water to the Malaprabha (Krishna basin).
• NPP 1980 / NWDA: 30 links, 16 peninsular, 14 Himalayan. Ken–Betwa is the first to be built.
• Daudhan Dam is in Panna–Chhatarpur (MP), on the Ken. The link canal ends at Barua Sagar near Jhansi. Ken and Betwa are both Yamuna tributaries.
• Polavaram is on the Godavari. Its Right Main Canal reaches the Krishna through the Budameru. It is a national project under Section 90 of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.
• Match: Periyar diversion – Kerala to Tamil Nadu. Indira Gandhi Canal – Harike to Rajasthan. Kurnool–Cuddapah – Tungabhadra to Pennar.
• Vansadhara tribunal: Odisha vs Andhra Pradesh (2010).

Mains Points

• Why tribunals fail:
• They are ad hoc, so they are slow. Cauvery took 1990 to 2007, and its decision was published only in 2013.
• States ignore awards (SYL canal) and reopen them through Articles 131 and 136.
• Water becomes a vote issue in upstream and downstream states.

• Fixes: a permanent tribunal, a national water data bank, basin-level authorities like the CWMA, and rules for distress-year sharing.

• Upstream–downstream geography decides the conflict:

• Peninsular rivers depend on the monsoon and run low in dry years (Kaveri, Krishna, Mahadayi).

• Diverting water from west-flowing to east-flowing rivers (Mahadayi to Malaprabha, Periyar to Vaigai) hurts estuaries and the downstream state.

• River linking can do good and harm:

• Good: Ken–Betwa will irrigate 10.62 lakh ha and serve about 62 lakh people in drought-hit Bundelkhand.

• Harm: it floods part of Panna Tiger Reserve, Polavaram floods tribal land in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, sediment is lost to deltas, and costs keep rising.

• A balanced answer: link basins only where there is a real surplus, and combine linking with local solutions such as watershed management, rainwater harvesting and better water-use efficiency.