Cauvery Water Regulation Committee an unbiased platform, says Union Minister

Cauvery Water Regulation Committee an unbiased platform, says Union Minister

Subject :Polity

Section: National body

Context:

• The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) is an unbiased platform working towards best management of water resources.
• All India Secretaries Conference on Water Vision @2047-Way Ahead– Organised by the National Water Mission of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, and coordinated by the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department.

Improvements in groundwater management in India:

• Enhanced aquifer mapping, leading to evidence-based management and a significant reduction in overexploited and critical groundwater areas.
• Groundwater assessment units have shown a near 10% improvement due to better recharge strategies.
• The frequency of aquifer mapping has been increased.
• Groundwater mapping has covered nearly 25 lakh sq. km. in India.
• Initiatives like the Atal Bhujal Yojana to rejuvenate stressed aquifers and identify areas needing recharge.
• Recycle and reuse policy.

About the Cauvery water dispute:

• The dispute is related to a long-standing conflict over the sharing of water from the Cauvery River.
• It involves 3 states and one Union Territory: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry.
• The dispute revolves around how the river water should be distributed among these states for various uses, including irrigation, drinking water, and industrial purposes.

Formation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and its final award:

• In accordance with Section 4 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was formed in June 1990.

• Final Award of CWDT (2007): After 17 years, in February 2007, the CWDT issued its final award. It allocated the Cauvery basin water (740 TMC in a normal year) as follows: Tamil Nadu – 419 TMC, Karnataka – 270 TMC, Kerala – 30 TMC, and Pondicherry – 7 TMC.
  • Additionally, 10 TMC was reserved for environmental purposes and 4 TMC for inevitable outlets into the sea.
  • The tribunal also called for a monitoring authority but did not detail a formula for water shortage situations, stating that allocations should be proportionally reduced.
• Subsequent Developments: The government notified the order in 2013 following a Supreme Court directive. Tamil Nadu appealed to the Supreme Court, alleging Karnataka’s non-compliance with the tribunal’s award. In 2018, the Supreme Court largely upheld the CWDT’s arrangements, slightly altering the allocations: Karnataka – 284.75 TMC, Tamil Nadu – 404.25 TMC, Kerala – 30 TMC, and Puducherry – 7 TMC. The Court declared Cauvery a national asset and directed the central government to notify the Cauvery Management Scheme.
• Cauvery Water Management Scheme (2018): The central government formed the ‘Cauvery Water Management Authority’ (CWMA) and the ‘Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’ (CWRC) in June 2018 to implement the scheme.
  • The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) was later established to implement and monitor the CWDT’s award and regulate the distribution of water according to its provisions.
  • The committee’s responsibilities include monitoring water releases from Karnataka’s reservoirs and ensuring that the allocated amounts of water are delivered to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry as per the established formula.

Constitutional Provisions:

• Entry 17 of the State List deals with water i.e., water supply, irrigation, canal, drainage, embankments, water storage and hydropower.
• Entry 56 of the Union List empowers 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.
• According to Article 262, in case of disputes relating to waters:
  • 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 as mentioned above.

Source: TH