Apex Court orders constitution of ‘Vansadhara River Dispute Tribunal’
- SC orders formation of a committee to find out scientific remedies to water woes as ‘tribunals like this can only be stop-gap and temporary solution’.
- 'Water Initiatives Orissa' hails the judgements and urges the Court that most suitable science lies at the community level
A long drawn Court battle between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh regarding sharing of Vansadhara river water has ended in a historic judgement. The Supreme Court of India at last has directed the Central Government to constitute a river dispute tribunal to look into disputes between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh regarding Vanshadhara river water sharing. But going beyond the judgment the two judge bench comprising Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice Altamas Kabir has directed the government to constitute a highly level committee to look for scientific remedies to water woes. Justice Katju in a separate concurring judgment equated the situation in India with that of the popular rhyme ‘Water, Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink’. “Despite having immense reservoirs of water in the form of the Himalayas in the North and the Arabian sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in the West, South and East of India, there are water shortages everywhere,” observed the judge. Scarcity of water is getting out of hand. “In many cities people get water for half an hour in a day, and sometimes not even that, in large parts of rural areas there is shortage of water for irrigation and drinking purpose. Rivers in India are drying up, ground water is being rapidly depleted, and canals are polluted,” he further added.
‘Don’t Delay’… Court asks the government to find answers fast
Formulation of laws, courts or dispute tribunals ‘cannot resolve the water shortage problem permanently’. We need technology to deal with that. “It is indeed sad that a country like India which solved the problem of town planning 6000 years ago in the Indus Valley Civilization and which discovered the decimal system in Mathematics and Plastic Surgery in Medicine in ancient times, and is largely managing Silicon Valley in U.S.A. today has been unable to solve the problem of water shortage till now,” rued Justice Katju. Mentioning that “Right to get water is a part of right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution,” Justice Katju further said that government cannot escape from that responsibility.
He then recommended the government to “immediately constitute a body of eminent scientists in the field who should be requested to do scientific research in this area on a war footing to find out scientific ways and means of solving the water shortage problem in the country.” He asked the government to give ‘all the financial, technical and administrative help by the Central and State Governments’.
Sounding tough the Court advised such committee to act on a war-footing. “We will consistently monitor the progress and examine this in July”, cautioned Justice Katju.
Orissa relieved as Supreme Court orders formation of dispute tribunal
This extraordinary pronouncement by Justice Katju was part of a judgment delivered in a Writ Petition filed by Government of Orissa seeking constitution of a River Dispute Tribunal with regard to disputes between Orissa and Andrapradesh over Vansadhara river water sharing. The Court ordered formation of such tribunal within six months. The Court ordered Andhra Pradesh to maintain ‘staus quo’ till the matter is taken up by the Tribunal.
While order to constitute Tribunal is good news for Orissa, as Justice Katju has pointed out, forums like these (Tribunals) are only stop-gap in nature. We need to treat water honestly and respectfully. Water is not a tradable commodity. Coming back to an earlier citation referred by Justice Katju,
"Water is a gift of nature. Human handcannot be permitted to convert this bounty into acurse, an oppression. The primary use to whichwater is put being drinking, it would be mockingnature to force the people who live on the bank of ariver to remain thirsty"
‘Your Lordship… Best science exists at the community level’
‘Water Initiatives Orissa’ whole heartedly welcomes the decision of the Honorable Supreme Court. Laws, tribunals are no solution to the water scarcity problems. So we need an ecological sound scientific solution to that. We firmly believe that tackling water woes does not necessarily require a rocket science. Answers are available in plenty among community members. Rich tradition of water harvesting and deep wisdom in use of water is existence in India since ages. We just only need to believe them and revert to such practices. ‘Your Lordship… Local knowledge is the biggest and the most suitable science that we possess to counter water woes. Let’s find our ways through that’, Water Initiatives Orissa (WIO) prays before the honourable Court.
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For further information, please contact:
Ranjan K Panda
Convener, Water Initiatives Orissa
or,
Bimal Prasad Pandia
Coordinator, Water Initiatives Orissa
C/O: Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti (MASS)
Dhanupali, Sambalpur 768 004
Orissa, INDIA
Email: waterinitiativesorissa@gmail.com
massorissa@gmail.com
Phone: +91-663-2520962 / 2404974
Mobile : +91-94370-50103(Ranjan Panda), +91-99378-88466(Bimal Pandia)
For details of the SC judgement, please visit: www.climatechangecrusaders.blogspot.com
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