Cabinet approves bill to set up a single water disputes tribunal

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a Bill that proposes to set up an Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal to resolve water disputes in a time-bound manner.

The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to streamline the adjudication of inter-state river water disputes and make the present institutional architecture robust.

Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said there have been instances of cases pending before tribunals for 15-20 years.

He said the single tribunal can have different benches and the decision on a dispute will be made in two years.

The bill provides for dissolution of existing tribunals and the water disputes pending adjudication before such existing tribunals will be transferred to the new tribunal.