Inter-State Water Disputes is a concept and legal mechanism in India for resolving conflicts between two or more state governments regarding the use, distribution, or control of waters from an inter-state river or river valley. The constitutional basis for this mechanism is Article 262 of the Indian Constitution, which empowers Parliament to legislate for the adjudication of such disputes and to exclude the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and other courts in these matters.
The mechanism was formally established by the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act), which was enacted on August 28, 1956, on the eve of the reorganization of states on a linguistic basis. The Act was created to provide a legal framework for resolving conflicts that were anticipated to arise from the use of shared river resources, a subject that falls under the State List (Entry 17) but is subject to the Union's power over the regulation and development of inter-state rivers (Entry 56 of the Union List).
The IRWD Act, 1956, provides that a state government may request the Central Government to refer a dispute to a Tribunal for adjudication. If the Central Government determines the dispute cannot be settled through negotiation, it is required to constitute a Water Disputes Tribunal. The Tribunal's decision, known as an award, is legally binding on the concerned states once published by the Central Government, and it has the same force as an order of the Supreme Court. A related law is the River Boards Act, 1956, which was intended for the regulation and development of inter-state rivers but has been largely ineffective.
The IRWD Act has been amended, with the most recent amendment occurring in 2002. A significant proposed change was the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which sought to replace the ad hoc tribunal system with a single, permanent Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal with multiple benches. The Bill also proposed establishing a Disputes Resolution Committee (DRC) to attempt an amicable settlement before the dispute is referred to the Tribunal. The 2019 Bill aimed to streamline the process and set a maximum time limit of four-and-a-half years for the resolution of a dispute.