Denying Water Rights: A Case Study of River Water Disputes in India

INTRODUCTION

Water is essential for human existence and its sustained availability is of utmost importance. Increase in water demand due to rapid increment in population, urbanization and industrialization is posing a major challenge for our country and its citizens. In such context, India is already reeling under this pressure. Despite being endowed with several river systems and water bodies, many regions across the country are vulnerable to water crisis: a situation defined by water demand exceeding the available water supply. This challenge is further exacerbated in the agriculture sector. The agriculture sector in addition provides a source of livelihood for almost 50% of India‘s population, also accounts for 78% of the total water used for the purpose of irrigation in the country. Hence, water productivity in this sector is an absolute necessity for sustainable growth of agriculture in India. But given the nature of available water from these sources, it can be easily understood that how due to irregularity of factors the states endowed with rivers and water bodies are not so consensual in sharing the water with each other. In such unnerving times, the role of government becomes crucial to sustain a delicate balance in meeting the ‗need of people‘ and meeting the need of their own agenda. In each of these cases, the aim is to establish fulfillment of the need, now whether it is about commitment to the public or for their selfish ambition, that differs with time. Even if the state government does not duly perform its task to stay loyal to its people, categorically, it falls upon the central government to perform what‘s best for its citizen. But that is only ideal in nature, not feasible for those who hold power at this level of hierarchy. It is imperative to note that India as a country has a federal system, where both the center and state governments have to work in a cooperative and cohabiting manner. If this principal were to be followed in letter and spirit, then both units of governments from center and state needs to work together without wasting any time in settling the pending conflicts. But such kind of ‗ideal‘ arrangements haven‘t been materialized yet, mostly due to the political intervention of those political factions who run these state and central governments based on their own self-interest. In present times, there has been a significant increase in the multi-party system that resulted in forming coalition to constitute a government body. To consolidate political indoctrination, many political factions tend to adjoin with each other to form governments, both at the state and at the center level. With such similarity in political maneuvering, both the states and center are likely to work in close cooperation. But at the time of water dispute if solution for the conflict is not made jointly, then the case is more likely to become severely complex and tangled. As a result, a range of hostility, social resentment and political friction is bound to exponentially rise among the participant bodies. Therefore, politics has been posited as a focal point in this issue and as a result, dispute has been lingering for many years. Due to merging of politics bias with public sentiment, the nature of dispute has become convoluted and intricate. Therefore, the need is to understand that how the matter has worsened with time and how much importance as the power equations varies at time with ever changing geo-political scenario. Due to the shift in political regime, the dispute is dealt differently each time under different party, resulting in deviation from its previous juncture. For this very reason, the shift in power has affected the dispute so many times that it has been politically charged, which in return has evoked strong emotional outcry from both the sides. It is a fact that water resource in India is the most sought out crucial resource for satisfying the need of its ever increasing population, also to boost its economic development as well. But like any other natural resource the supply of fresh water is also finite, therefore, the states rely heavily on large supply-side projects and long distance water transfers from the river bodies. This in turn leads to escalation of conflict between the states for the control of water. In this regard, the continuous demand for water has played a major factor in growing the politics of federalism. As the federal system in India defines the legal powers and duties of governmental bodies, but due to political intervention they have become increasingly significant and heavily politicized (Dutt-Lahiri 2008, 62-99). Therefore, the political parties holding power at both center and states have influenced the direction of the dispute. Since, the balance of power keeps changing; it affected the overall matter also. Each party in power has its main objective keenly focused on planting its political regime by inducing ongoing dispute, resulting in inevitable delays and stagnation. Thus, to explicate the intricacies of such scenario, an objective point-of-view has to be devised where the citizens from all the sphere of public domain are to be prioritized first. Given the scale of political intervention, the general masses are the one who always suffers the brunt of being collaterally damaged. In any given case, the government and its policy makers are the responsible one who helm the duty of safeguarding its citizen‘s interest. That‘s why electoral politics has been assigned in the democracy to select those individuals who can represent our concerns and address our plight. But some chosen representatives exploit their political authority to place their self-interest first over the well-being of public. Hence, this paper will try to accommodate those factors which participate in making such situation happen. However, when volatility of public sentiment and influence of political interest intermingles with each other, then the most likely results are eruptive violence, public paranoia and social resentment in all directions of communal sphere. To address this issue, certain junctions are to be examined first, such as Inter-state river water disputes, Vote bank politics and Predicament for the people. Here, the aforementioned reasons are the

STATE RIVER WATER DISPUTES IN INDIA

Historically, Indian subcontinent always had various rivers running through its topographical veins but on a flip side these river waters have also served as a ‗bone of contention‘ among the previously princely provinces to newly emerged democratic states in a post-independence age. As the country is bound to grow due to its booming population, its already existing internal problems like extreme poverty, uncontrolled scale of industrialization and climatic irregularity is going to drive the inefficient usage of water exponentially. As the concern of water scarcity is rising up with each year, the existing problems are going to inflict a negative impact on the overall water situation. According to the World Bank, in year 2006 India‘s per capita water availability was 1,730 cubic meters per person but by the year 2030 the per capita water availability is expected to decline by 1240 cubic meters per person per year. This directly means that by the year 2030 the population will directly come under the stress of severe water shortage as India‘s water utilization rate is 59% at present time, which is already far ahead than the standard 40% mark (Mckinsey 2009). This ‗above the standard utilization rate‘ also means that the ecological mechanisms in place do not have the sufficient capacity to recharge the depleting water resources, meaning, water is being used at an unsustainable rate. The report recommended that by the year 2030 water demand in Indian mainland is bound to grow almost 1.5 trillion m3, again driven by factors like population boom, accelerated rate of industrialization and domestic usage. However, the ‗scarcity of water‘ is not the primary reason due to which a water dispute occurs, rather it is the improper way how the water is managed and governed. Meaning, at times the body in-charge fails in performing its duty due to which a conflict occurs. This can be due to the inadequate number of water related governing bodies or institutions, insufficient administrative capacity, overlapping jurisdiction, ambiguity in rules and fragmented institutional structures (Mckinsey 2009). Thus, such decentralized and fragmented structuring of administrative bodies often leads to divergent and indecisive outcome. This is mostly seen in developing countries like India, where there is an absence of a permanent body which oversees the monitoring of water related norms and regulations. In this regard, India is hardly pressed on this issue as it is now facing problem in supplying the optimum quantity of water to its ever increasing population and if continuing in the same direction, it will enter a ‗stress zone‘ by the year 2025(IWMI). To make matter worse, the already existing water reserves are not just depleting but their water quality is also deteriorating. For

caused drastic fall in the ‗qualitative‘ factor of water resource, mainly due to the ever increasing urban settlements. Yet, the ‗optimum quantity of water‘ in India is not evenly distributed. As many states in India on being ‗riparian‘ exercise a self-proclaimed authority in dispensing water as they see fit. This imposition of authority and lax government policies results in a state-of-conflict over the ownership of water rights. This makes the ‗scarcity of water‘ much more grave and is visible on societal level as well. Moreover, the terms of arrangements have changed in keeping the interest of non-riparian states unfavorably. As the issue of water has taken center stage in public arena, an evident amount of sheer aggression, communal protests and violent incidents have also taken place. Here, tensions have been high in-between contending states who have claimed the allocation of water rights just for themselves. To be fair, river water disputes have been recorded since the time of independence but their roots lie deep from the colonial times. In this age though, few notable disputes still lingers in public memory because the amount of animosity between the contending states have been either high-profiled or overly-dramatic, like:

In 2016, Odisha raised the dispute regarding Chhattisgarh‘s building spree on a number of dams and barrages in the upstream flow of Godavari River. In response, Maharashtra and Jharkhand also pointed out their concerns over Chhattisgarh‘s action. Here, Odisha alleged that even after several complaints Chhattisgarh government has been taking away its share of water from Hirakud reservoir by constructing a dam across the Mahanadi River. To gain political mileage, both the governments now contest on legal grounds and political landscape to outflank and hold upper hand in this water war. Although, the seeds of contention were sowed back in Congress led UPA government, but since the center has been dominated under Modi‘s BJP led governance, the friction between Biju Janata Dal and Congress led Chhattisgarh government has only ignited in the past few years to lay claim on the lower basin of Mahanadi river. From its infancy, this grueling issue lingered primarily between the two states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Here, the dispute began since the British Raj as under the colonial rule the Madras Presidency and the princely state of Mysore could never come on the same term to agree over how to divide the water between them. But in 1924, these two sides signed an agreement regarding the water usage of Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam. Under this agreement, both usage was in a drift between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Here, Tamil Nadu hinted rejection over Karnataka‘s attempt on constructing more dams. But, Karnataka argued that the 50 year time under the 1924 agreement had lapsed, so they are not obligated to stick to the old norms, since the river originated in the their state. This of course verily ticked Tamil Nadu, since the state had become heavily reliant on Cauvery river water for irrigating its agricultural land in the delta areas. In the following years, Karnataka built four dams which in result gained scorned attention from the opposing side of Tamil Nadu. Hence, Tamil Nadu filed suit and took the matter into the Apex court. From 1980 to 1990, all the legal proceedings took place and under the supervision of Central government a Tribunal was constituted. Accordingly, after its inquiry the tribunal gave its award but as the given nature of such feuds don‘t die out so easily, unsurprisingly, the award actually caused riots in both the states. From this point onward, in coming decades the political motif and social outcry has surfaced strongly for claiming the rights over Cauvery river water, as it has only stiffened into a hot mess of violence protests in both the states. In current times, the Supreme Court has mandated that the tribunals‘ given award shall be implemented. But the unwillingness to reach a mutual understanding from both the sides in sharing their portion of river water has reached new zealous heights.

In a verified manner, the issue over the river water allocation from Bhakra dam has been one of the few virulent and bitter rivalry in the history of inter-state river water disputes in India where lives have been lost, money has been splurged and all legal mechanism have been exhausted to settle the affair. But to no relief, the matter still endures between the states of Haryana and Punjab. Like Cauvery river water dispute, the genesis of this dispute also begins from British period. Although, the whole issue surrounds around the completion of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal but the issue of water ownership has always been of a prime concern over anything. In depth, the canal was proposed to alleviate the water needs of regions which were affected by shortage of water. After the 1966 partition of Punjab a new state emerged, known as Haryana. This state was carved out of Punjab and was given the south and south-eastern part of previous Punjab province, near Rajasthan, a semi-arid zone with low rainfall and with shortage of river bodies. Thus, after the partition this region became prone to water shortage as Punjab denied to share its rivers for Haryana, claiming it belong to it only. The partition not only suggested the linguistic division but also entitled Haryana the same rights as Punjab. And in such accordance, enforcement and unavailability of a permanent agency to oversee such cases have only diverted the issue from reaching a settlement. Because the issue lies in-between the two states and involves judicial intervention, both the states and center along with higher institutions like Supreme Court have tried to resolve the issue. But due to overlapping jurisdiction and vague boundaries on legal rights, it made the case atypical and hard to solve. Yet, many initiatives have been taken in this direction as accord have been formulated, tribunals have been set up and directions from Supreme Court were also set but defiance of legal orders, biased treatment and political interventions kept the issue from reaching an amicable settlement. By understanding the chain of events leading to this conflict, it can be said that most of this was propagated by the political parties in Punjab, as it is motivated on being hateful and discriminating towards Haryana. And Punjab has always tried to stop from getting any river water to Haryana as it considers the latter does not ‗deserve‘ it. This kind of superficial authority is shown by Punjab on the ground of being a riparian state, as it is gifted naturally with 5 major rivers flowing through it. This has been much professed mostly by the political parties who say that Punjab is not ‗obligated‘ to anyone, especially to Haryana in sharing its river water. By the narrative of many regional and national political parties of Punjab, Haryana is not bound to receive any river water due to it being a non-riparian state and Punjab government does not recognize its claim on that basis (Grewal 1996, 177). Also, the politically driven protests have instigated anti-sentiments towards Haryana, resulting in public unrest and communal tension arising from the public of both states. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress from the state of Punjab have opposed the construction of SYL, saying that the canal will only hurt the interest of its farmers. And for its water security, Punjab government does not want to share its river water. But not just from Punjab but from Haryana‘s side as well, the political parties have only used the water issue as way to garner vote bank. The tenure under Congress, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) parties have never seen the completion of the SYL canal. Each party in different time has only evoked sentiment to alleviate the plight of farmers by claiming to complete the canal but have remained unsuccessful till current times. Even with proper legal mechanism in place and authority to dispense the action, the government has been unable to fully enforce the decision in providing the water to people of Haryana. It has been due to the absence of a perennial authoritative body which could have been more effective than any tribunal or court in implementing the decisions regarding the settlement. But due to political ambitions and power

DISPUTES

From the previously mentioned cases of river water disputes, it can be surmised that many people have shown full support to Congress, as they have provided more water for them than the other governments in the country. But it has also been seen that national parties like the Indian National Congress (INC) takes decisions according to its respective position in different State. Even though Congress has been present in every state, the regional units of Congress in every state differ in sharing the native sentiment. Like for the states of Haryana and Punjab, they were divided on linguistic basis and the Congress parties belonging from those places speak different languages, thus complicating the real issues. These regional ‗units‘ of Congress have always gone in a state of friction with each other and their political ambitions have only instigated the public sentiment to garner vote bank. As the political landscape remains volatile in consolidating political doctrine, it leads to propagation of hidden agendas and false promises. As when the Congress stepped down from the center and Narendra Modi became the new Prime Minister, the dynamics between the state and center shifted dramatically. With the rise of BJP, many political leaders became vary of the instability. Thus, the power equation between Haryana, Punjab and Haryana itself shifted on a new premise, resulting in defection of many politicians into BJP. Harbans Lal, an ex-Transport Minister from Congress but now in BJP stressed

handle the issues. He also stated that ―In almost all the districts of Haryana, there is shortage of water. The main reasons for this are the production of wheat, rice and less rainfall and also the cutting of forests. The non-completion of the SYL canal is a political matter‖. (An interview of Kehar Singh, a local villager) When the leader of BJP, the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee solved the Cauvery Water dispute, then in none of the disputed States BJP was in power. This indicates that how the politicians have stimulated the emotive issue of water in public, by switching sides. The political ambition to gain bureaucratic power have rendered these politicians in being unfaithful to their own party, both on state and national level. It can be also deduced that the governmental bodies of Punjab and Haryana are barely bothered about the stress of farmers, as they hardly lean towards solving the conditions that ails them. The farmers in particular suffer the most as their demand for water lies mostly for irrigation, so the allotment of river water from the Ravi and Beas rivers may help to soothe their perilous circumstance. To this no other political party has risen above their sectarian views, except the CPI and CPM as they have been forwarding dispassionate view and suggested amicable solution for the dispute (Mishra 1988, 136). This is because they lack the political drive to consolidate public sentiment for vote bank. They have been one of the few collectives who have duly represented the interests of farming communities. On the other hand, parties like Akali Dal and Congress neither do anything nor keep their promises towards the farmers. In which, Akali Dal stated its stance clear that it is not in favor of sharing water with Haryana. But considering the fact that large areas of land has been acquired in both the states for the construction of the canal, thus, the acquired lands are lying useless and so the canal should be completed (An interview of Jaswant Singh, a Sarpanch). Also, the Congress party hasn‘t been much helpful either. When it was the government of Congress both at the center and in states, even then it could not solve this dispute. Therefore, it seems that the only diligent parties that work towards the rights of the farmers are the Third Front, only they convey the interest of a common man‘s plight. The state of Haryana has all the legitimate right for asking the distribution of river water form Ravi and Beas. But the ratio of political intervention has only skyrocketed with time and with greater influence on public sentiment and portrayal of ‗savior image‘, they have been able feed the masses an instilling image of rudimentary blind faith under their political doctrine. This can only be termed as a rabid case of power-seeking megalomania, where the abuse of political authority by the chosen

PREDICAMENT FOR THE PEOPLE

Apart from the flawed institutional bureaucracy, there remains a range of possibilities that comprises the perils faced by a common citizen in the first place. For such inquiry, the understanding has to be posited based on reasons as why the public has to go through the ordeal of not just systemic corruption, inept governance policies and gauche treatment from the administration while enduring their daily life ordeal. This is partly because our country‘s geographic boundaries, socio-economic order and communal dynamics which affect all of us in unison also governs our daily life and outlines the path for future. In such direction, there are defining factors which can be explained to account issues related to common public and how in the scheme of grand events these reasons contribute in our well-being.

Food Security- India as a country positions itself as an agrarian based economy. Hence, the scarcity of water directly affects the food production. In such regard, water as a ‗commodity‘ is treated as an inevitable necessity for irrigation, crop cultivation, farming and dairy based practices. If such sectors were to take hit from the decline of water supply, as a rebound effect the country will face severe food shortage. This can be easily understood with the fact that nearly 58% of India‘s population is directly or indirectly employed by the agriculture sector and nearly one-third of India‘s GDP is also contributed by this sector alone. Therefore, due to the weakened and irregular monsoon, India‘s agricultural sector has been afflicted with reduced yields each successive year. Besides this condition, India‘s attempt to stockpile proper food rations for creating ‗food security‘ has somewhat backfired in the recent times, as it has

In such case, the issue of supporting the feeding population with proper food supply is then also severely aggravated by India‘s geopolitical conflicts. The inter-state river water disputes and petty regional affairs only add up to this mountain of a problem, as friction between the states arises only when the water rights come in picture. For instance, Punjab has been considered to be India‘s ‗food bowl‘ for many decades and for that reason this state relies heavily on farming of rice, cotton, sugarcane and wheat. But for the agricultural output to be yielded there is much need of water, because the main crop preferred for the staple is rice and as this crop happens to be the most heavily water intensive in nature to grow and harvest. For that reason, it draws water from its naturally endowed rivers like Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Ravi and Beas, which passes through its peripheries. But at times also Punjab takes the stance of not sharing its water river waters with adjacent states like Haryana and Rajasthan, which are less fortunate in terms of getting adequate rainfall and presence of perennial river flow. This regional rivalry ultimately results in unilateral benefit of one state and lop-sided yield for the other, resulting in poor output of overall food production in India for consumption. If left unchecked, the water shortage due to one party‘s self-interest may one day stack onto the already existing water shortage, leading to a severe crisis of food security. Economic Vulnerability- In cognizance with the issue of food security, the threat also looms over country‘s economy. As the reach of water scarcity will most likely also affect private and government sectors like Industrial and Manufacturing in general and Agriculture sector in particular. Here, the agriculture sector in specific contributes heavily in country‘s GDP, if it falls short on yielding ample economic output due to shortage of water, then it‘ll drag the economy slowly like a domino effect. Other subsidiary sectors like animal husbandry and aquaculture will also fall behind in their economic productivity, if water shortage were to arise. In accordance, the Industrial sector will also see decline in its productive output as it requires immense quantity of water for the functioning of its machineries in the factories. The economic setback is also bound to be triggered by set of internal conflict between the states, over the contention of river water rights specifically. Here India as a nation functions as a federal system, its states serve as a self-sustaining autonomous units that have to generate their own revenue in compliance to the central authority, and if the state is unable to procure its water requirements then it would cease to operate

Consequently, social tension have now risen as neighborhood skirmishes, communal riots and inter-state conflicts are happening more around those water related issues.1 It is not just the conflicts that are on the rise, but rather a whole new wave of water-borne diseases are also surfacing in numbers due to the improper treatment of domestic and industrial run-off. Such kind of unchecked status quo can verily cause a widespread epidemic and ought to be treated with utmost consideration. But the ‗health‘ factor is just part of the equation, as the inhabitants are not just being devoid of clean and safe water but also being left-off by the governing bodies that are responsible to oversee such situation. If we account the role of the state government in such case, then it is to be held primarily as the ‗provider‘ of security and sustenance (Chopra 2001, 416-29). But that‘s not the likely case, because the distribution of water around the nation is uneven, and each state foresees its own people first. But this raises question, what about those section of people who can‘t afford or are denied from getting such clean and healthy water? Thus, to draw a conclusive remark based on all these above mentioned

1See, World Bank Report. 2005. ―India's Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future‖, p-157

the growing issue. As a political regime should not only enjoy its political might, but duly and responsibly also account the perils and anomalies when socio-economic and ecological collapse is bound to follow. As it should not be the citizen only who should suffer, but the whole systemic structure of democracy should account the variables and tactfully safeguard the well-being of its citizens for a progressive and healthy country.

CONCLUSION

In end of this research paper, it is important to highlight that all the multi-tiered layers of intricacies, the above said factors are vital in comprehending the sheer scale of political entanglement drawn by the participants of various political parties who have held power in electoral ecosystem of this country. Hence, this paper tries to bind the distinguishable facets under which the political commotion drives the country, inconsequentially. In brief, sustainability is the ‗key‘ for prosperity but not everything lies in mortal hands, as the political interventions have led this serious issue astray and simmering in controversy. The political parties in specific have tried to politicize the pain of common man but have done so only for showmanship, as their main agenda lies behind such facade. They seek to consolidate political doctrine by securing vote bank on emotionally manipulating the masses over the emotive issue of ‗water scarcity‘. And due to such high politicization, the real aim is lost behind all the showmanship and public is kept under an illusion on being heard. Such ploys are sponsored by collectives to lure public‘s confidence and gain their support. Therefore, to tackle such oddities, re-evaluation of stagnant legal proceedings are to be done again so that a new push can be given in the water sector, which can facilitate proper allotment of water supply to the public which requires the water for their daily survival. As the general consensus will naturally align with these driving factors, let‘s not ponder whom to consider the adversary on the skewed premise of political doctrine. Only by following an honest approach and taking into account of plight of general public, civil unrest and social division can there be an established political ecosystem where the people in power can meticulously think the well-being of the masses and shorten their leash of political abuse.

Dutt-Lahiri and Wasson. 2008. Water First, Issues and Challenges for Nations and Communities in South Asia. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

A statement of Kehar Singh, Village- Kalera, District- Fatehgarh Sahib, State- Punjab An interview of Jaswant Singh, Sarpanch, Village- Hulka, District- Patiala Grail Research. 2008. ―Water: The India Story‖. A report World Bank Report. 2005. India's Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future. Chopra, Kanchan, ―Sustainable use of water in India‖ in Water Resources and Sustainable Development, Amita Prasad (ed.), 2001, Pp.416 – 429 Jain, S. N, Jacob, Alice and S. C. Jain. ed. 2004. Inter-State Water Disputes in India, Bombay: N. M. Tripathi Pvt. Ltd. Misra, M. S. 1988. Politics of Regionalism in India. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications, 1988, p.136 Grewal, J. S, The Akalis - A Short History, Punjab Studies Publication: Chandigarh, 1996, p. l77 The Hindustan Times, "SYL Canal: Centre files plea in SC", 16th July 2004.

Research Scholar, Baba Mastnath University, Rohtak, Haryana