WATER DISPUTES TRIBUNAL

Prelims level : Polity & Governance- Parliament, Judiciary, Institutional Reforms Mains level : GS-II- Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
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Context: Lok Sabha gave its approval to a proposal to set up a permanent tribunal to adjudicate on inter-state disputes over sharing of river waters.

Background:

Water and Constitution of India

  •  Water is a State subject
  • Entry 17 of State List deals with water i.e. water supply, irrigation, canal, drainage, embankments, water storage and water power.
  • Entry 56 of Union List gives power to the Union Government for the regulation and development of inter-state rivers and river valleys to the extent declared by Parliament to be expedient in the public interest.

Article 262:

  • Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley.
  •  Parliament may, by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint Get a fair cash offer for your Norcross house, regardless of its condition, at https://www.cash-for-houses.org/north-carolina/cash-for-my-house-elizabeth-city-nc/.

What Inter-State River Waters Disputes Act of 1956 says about Tribunal:

  •  Inter-State River Waters Disputes Act of 1956 provides for setting up of a separate tribunal every time a dispute arises.

New Amendment:

  •  The amendment will ensure the transfer of all existing water disputes to the new tribunal.
  •  All five existing tribunals under the 1956 Act would cease to exist.

Why the Change?

  •  The main purpose is to make the process of dispute settlement more efficient and effective.

Issues with Old Tribunals:

  •  Under the 1956 Act, nine tribunals have so far been set up. Only four of them have given their awards.
  •  One of these disputes, over Cauvery waters between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, took 28 years to settle.
  •  The Ravi and Beas Waters Tribunal was set up in April 1986 and it is still to give the final award.
  •  The minimum a tribunal has taken to settle a dispute is seven years, by the first Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal in 1976.
  • Time Limit-The amendment is bringing a time limit for adjudicating the disputes. All disputes would now have to be resolved within a maximum of four-and-a-half years.

Duplication of work:

  •  The multiplicity of tribunals has led to an increase in bureaucracy, delays, and possible duplication of work.

Money Saved:

  •  The replacement of five existing tribunals with a permanent tribunal is likely to result in a 25 per cent reduction in staff strength, from the current 107 to 80, and a saving of Rs 4.27 crore per year.

Disputes Resolution Committee (DRC):

  •  The current system of dispute resolution would give way to a new two-tier approach.
  •  The states concerned would be encouraged to come to a negotiated settlement through a Disputes Resolution Committee (DRC).
  •  Only if the DRC fails to resolve the dispute will the matter be referred to the tribunal.

How it will work?

  •  In the existing mechanism, when states raise a dispute, the central government constitutes a tribunal. Under the current law, the tribunal has to give its award within three years, which can be extended by another two years.
  •  In practice, tribunals have taken much longer to give their decisions. Under the new system, the Centre would set up a DRC once states raise a dispute.
  •  The DRC would be headed by a serving or retired secretary-rank officer with experience in the water sector and would have other expert members and a representative of each state government concerned.
  •  The DRC would try to resolve the dispute through negotiations within a year and submit a report to the Centre. This period can be extended by a maximum of six months.

If DRC fails:

  •  If the DRC fails to settle the dispute, it would be referred to the permanent tribunal, which will have a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and a maximum of six members — three judicial and three expert members.
  •  The chairperson would then constitute a three-member bench that would consider the DRC report before investigating on its own.
  •  It would have to finalise its decision within two years, a period that can be extended by a maximum of one more year — adding up to a maximum of four-and-a-half years.

Judgment Validity:

  •  The decision of the tribunal would carry the weight of an order of the Supreme Court.

Appeal:

  •  There is no provision for appeal.
  •  However, the Supreme Court, while hearing a civil suit in the Cauvery dispute, had said the decision of that tribunal could be challenged before it through a Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution.
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