The central government’s decision to set up a single permanent Inter-state Water Disputes Tribunal to help examine and resolve all inter-state water-sharing disputes quickly is a mixed bag for Goa.
According to Water Resources Ministry secretary Shashi Shekhar there will be only one permanent Tribunal with retired Supreme Court judge as its chairperson and there will be benches formed as and when required. The benches though are to be wound up once a dispute is resolved.
While on one hand the intentions of the central government are to speed up the resolution of such interstate conflicts which take decades to be resolved often at the cost of lives in the disputing states on the other hand, the new permanent tribunal, coming as it does, in place of the existing tribunals threatens to delay Goa’s ongoing case even further.
At present, there are eight Tribunals including those on Cauvery, Mahadayi, Ravi and Beas, Vansadhara and Krishna rivers.
Given Goa’s history in its dispute with Karnataka, a status quo might not be such a bad thing.
No doubt, the proposal, as on date is only approved by cabinet and it will be a while before the government amends the Inter-State Water Dispute Act, 1956.
In the interim, the case is likely to remain in limbo while there is more government clarity on the fate of the existing tribunals.
At the moment, the government has indicated that it will include present disputes in the new scheme. Ongoing disputes sometimes lagging on for decades would be end up being reset causing further delay.
