The water dispute arises among two or more State Governments when the Central Government receives request under Section 3 of the Act from any of the basin States with regard to existence of water dispute as per the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956.  The details of the present inter-State water disputes under ISRWD Act, 1956 are as follows:

In accordance with the said Act, the Central Government is required to refer a dispute to a Tribunal after it is satisfied that the dispute cannot be settled by negotiations.  Accordingly, the water disputes related to Cauvery and Krishna were referred to the Tribunals for adjudication in 1990 and 2004 respectively.  The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) submitted report and decision under section 5(2) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 on 5.2.2007. Party States and Central Government have sought guidance/ clarification from the tribunal under section 5(3) of the Act.  Further, party State have also filed Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the report and decision of the tribunal as mentioned above. The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal passed orders on Interim Relief Applications of the States on 9.6.2006.

The water dispute related to Ravi & Beas was referred to the Ravi & Beas Waters Tribunal (RBWT) in 1986 under Section 14 of the said Act.  RBWT submitted its report on 30.1.1987 under section 5(2) of the Act.  Party States and Central Government have sought explanation/guidance under section 5(3) of the Act from the Tribunal.  The Tribunal has not submitted its further report to the Government.

            In respect of Mahadayi/Mandovi River Water Disputes raised by Government of Goa, the Ministry of Water Resources is of the opinion that water dispute contained in the request of Government of Goa cannot be settled by negotiation.  Meanwhile, the Government of Goa filed a suit in the Supreme Court for setting up of Water Dispute Tribunal for adjudication of above River Water Dispute and an Interlocutory Application (IA) for stay in construction activity in September 2006.

            In respect of Vansadhara Water Dispute, the Central Government has not concluded so far that the dispute cannot be settled by negotiations. Meanwhile, the Government of Orissa has filed a Writ Petition in this regard in September, 2006 in the Supreme Court.

            Government has already enacted Inter-State Water Disputes Act in 1956 for adjudication of water disputes and amended the same in 2002 for time-bound adjudication of the disputes and the Act is now called as Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.

This information was given  by the Minister  of State for Water Resources, Shri Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav in response to a question by   Shri  Shantaram Laxman Naik and Shri Jai Prakash  Aggarwal   in the Rajya  Sabha today.

SK/BS