Friday Afternoon Talk — The Fluid Mosaic: Various shades of interstate water conflicts in India

This webinar will take place from 3:00 p.m. IST. Please note that registration is on a first come, first served basis. If your registration is successful, you will receive a confirmation email and a link through which you can join the discussion.

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Interstate water conflicts are a recurring phenomenon in India. Despite water use falling in the purview of the States, it is subject to the provisions of Entry 56 of List I of Indian Constitution that allows the Union to intervene in interstate water disputes. Also, ‘interstate water’ has been explicitly mentioned in the Union List, but not in the State List. So, states claim exclusive “user rights” over waters and the Union Government has generally avoided any proactive approach towards basin-level governance, confining its role in setting up Tribunals for interstate water disputes. Economic factors like underpricing of irrigation waters, promotion of water-consuming crops through support pricing, etc., often lead to unsustainable use of water during lean seasons thereby escalating conflicts. Shortsightedness in technocracy, fragmented approach to governance, over-reliance on structural engineering (without concern of externalities), and the Centre’s lack of initiative come in the ways of having an integrated river basin governance approach. In some cases, basin-level authorities have been set up, but the successes of such institutions remain under question due to their composition and institutional structures.

This discussion will deliberate on the following:

i. Statutory provisions to resolve the problems in the backdrop of the social-political-cultural realities.

ii. The economics of the interstate waters and the role of economic instruments.

iii. The need for an ecosystems’ approach with river basin as the unit of management.

iv. Challenges and opportunities of governing the interstate waters from a policy perspective.

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Key questions

● What are the drivers of the interstate water conflicts? How should they be interpreted through existing property rights delineations and constitutional provisions? ● What are the lacunae in the existing governance mechanisms for interstate waters? What prevents a more pro-active approach from the Union Government? ● How successful are the Tribunals and what are the lacunae in their awards? ● Can economics as a discipline or economic instruments play a role in resolution mechanisms? ● How should assessments be made with reference to the role of basin-level water management authorities? ● What can be learnt from global best practices? ● What prevents an integrated basin-level ecosystem-based approach? How can the new National Water Policy in the making help in governing the interstate waters?