Necessity of New Look for Equitable Water Sharing Among Basin States - Krishna Basin

Abstract

Water is a vital basic human resource and essential for all activities right from drinking to Industrial needs. Being a scarce natural resource, the stress is more evident with increasing population and priorities. The evolution of law in water sharing began with absolute territorial sovereignty and shifted towards equitable utilization which is more divergent and complex. The earlier arrangements in river water sharing had traces of imperialistic and colonialistic perspective. The changes in the recent past are more in the nature of improvements in these approaches towards equitable utilization. The approach of various Water Dispute Tribunals constituted in India is unique to each Tribunal, leading to a variety of asymmetries and anomalies in resolution of disputes among States. The composition of Tribunals with involvement of Technical Experts and adopting uniformity in its adjudication are indispensable for better appreciation and acceptance the award. An attempt has been to dwell upon these aspects with a concern to address pertinent issues like migration of people and cause of health hazards with poor quality water resources etc., with practicable solution in the field of Irrigation engineering in a pragmatic manner.