Abstract
Water is the elixir of life and indispensible resource for human activities, animals need and eco system. It is a critical natural asset and driver of socio-economic development. On the other hand, temporal variations of water resources, declining per capita water availability, profound reliance on irrigated agriculture, federal constitutional structure of the country, and the sharing of major rivers by two or more states have resulted into an acute competing demand for water among the different states in India. Those competing demands have been escalated in many areas to difficult disputes over the waters of those inter-state rivers. This article discusses and analyzes the dispute settlement process over shared rivers between the states of India. The article argues that although the process established for settling water disputes between the Indian states is unique and of significant importance, a number of problems have emerged in the course of implementing this process and those problems need to be addressed to strengthen the relevance and effectiveness of the process.
Keyword(s)
INTER-STATES, WATER SHARING, Case study, HYDRO-POLITICS, India