Lok Sabha Question No. 264 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-03
Subject: River Cities Alliance
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, Prataprao  Jadhav, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Subrata Pathak, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Sudheer Gupta, Ravi Kishan Shukla, Ravindra Kushawaha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI, DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 264

ANSWERED ON 03.02.2022

## RIVER CITIES ALLIANCE

## 264. SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK

SHRI SUBRAT PATHAK

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA

SHRI RAVI KISHAN

SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has recently launched River Cities Alliance (RCA), a platform for river cities in the country and if so, the details thereof along with the aims and objectives thereof;
- (b) the details of cities which are a part of this alliance;
- (c) whether the Government has fixed any criteria for selection of cities to be part of the RCA and proposes to add more cities in future in this platform and if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be implemented;
- (d) whether the Government is taking any other measures to ensure better coordination among States towards river water management and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the RCA would help in promotion of river management and its conservation and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the details of the pending inter-State water disputes in the country, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)

(a) to (c) : Yes sir, the River Cities Alliance (RCA) has been launched with the objective to provide the member cities with a platform to discuss and exchange information on aspects that are vital for sustainable management of urban rivers, sharing best practices and supporting innovation. The alliance has been launched initially with 30 cities  namely  Dehradun,  Rishikesh,  Haridwar,  Srinagar,  Varanasi,  Kanpur,  Prayagraj,  Farrukhabad,  Mirzapur, Mathura,  Bijnor,  Ayodhya,  Patna,  Bhagalpur,  Begusarai,  Munger,  Sahibganj,  Rajmahal,  Howrah,  Jangipur, Hugli-Chinsurah,  Behrampore,  Maheshtala,  Aurangabad,  Chennai,  Bhubaneshwar,  Hyderabad,  Pune,  Udaipur and Vijaywada.

The Alliance is open to all river cities of India. Any river city can join the Alliance at any time.

(d): State Governments are implementing Action Plans for restoration of water quality of the identified polluted river  stretches.  The  implementation  is  being  monitored  regularly  at  State  level  by  Chief  Secretary  of  the respective  State/UT  and  at  Central  level  by  the  Central  Monitoring  Committee  under  the  Chairmanship  of Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

In  addition,  under  Namami Gange Programme, the progress and activities are reviewed regularly by  National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), State Governments and District Ganga Committees.

(e): RCA is envisaged as a facilitatory platform for initiating river-sensitive planning and development. Namami Gange through its integrated and comprehensive framework has been working towards rejuvenating Ganga river basin. As cities start to implement the river-sensitive development agenda, the River Cities Alliance will support them to learn from each other and inspire others to take up progressive action on this front.

(f): For adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers and river valley thereof, the Parliament has enacted the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956. When any request under the said Act is received from any State Government in respect of any water dispute on the inter-State rivers and the Central Government is of the opinion that the water dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the Central Government constitutes  a  Water  Disputes  Tribunal  for  the  adjudication  of  the  said  water  dispute.  Currently,  5  such  water disputes Tribunals are active, the details of which are given at Annexure . In addition, Inter State Water disputes has been raised by Government of Bihar in respect of Tilaiya-Dhadhar Diversion scheme concerning States of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and by Government of Tamil Nadu (TN) in respect of use, distribution and control of Pennaiyar river and its tributaries concerning States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and UT of Puducherry.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART OF UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 264 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.02.2022 REGARDING 'RIVER CITIES ALLIANCE'.

Status of active Inter-State Water Disputes Tribunals relating to the sharing of river water

|   S. No | Name of Tribunal                               | States concerned                                     | Date of constitution                                                                                                                       | Present Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|---------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal - II(KWDT- II) | Karnataka, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra | April, 2004                                                                                                                                | Report and decision given on 30.12.2010. Further report given by the Tribunal on 29.11.2013. However, as per Supreme Court Order dated 16.9.2011, till further order, decision taken by the Tribunal on references filed by States and Central Government shall not be published in the official Gazette. As such, matter is sub-judice. Term of the Tribunal was extended for a period of two years w.e.f. 1st August, 2014 to address the terms of reference as contained in section 89 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. Thereafter, the term of the Tribunal has been extended six times for period of one year latest being w.e.f.                                                                                                                                    |
|       2 | Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal               | Odisha and Chhattisgarh                              | 12th March, 2018                                                                                                                           | 01.08.2021. The Government of Odisha had filed a complaint dated 19.11.2016 with the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 read with Inter- State River Water Dispute Rules, 1959. The Central Government has constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal vide Notification dated 12.03.2018. Subsequently, the reference was made to the Tribunal under Section 5(1) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 on 17.04.2018. The matter is thus under adjudication in the Tribunal. The Central Government, vide Notification dated 3rd June, 2021 has extended the tenure of the Tribunal for a period of two years upto 11th March, 2023 or till the submission of report, whichever is earlier. |
|       3 | Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (MW DT)       | Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra                       | 16th November, 2010 However, vide notification dated 13.11.2014 date of reckoning of the constitution of the Tribunal is w.e.f. 21.08.2013 | The MWDT submitted its report under Section 5(2) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 to the Central Government on 14.08.2018. Further references under Section 5(3) have been filed by the party States and the Central Government before the Tribunal. The matter is subjudice. The term of the Tribunal has been extended for a further period of one year w.e.f. 20.08.2021 to submit its Further Report under Section 5(3) of ISRWD Act, 1956. The Central Government has notified the Award and Final Decision of the MWDT given on 14.08.2018 in the Gazette of India vide notification No. S.O. 888(E). dated 27.02.2020.                                                                                                                                                                  |
|       4 | Ravi &Beas                                     | Punjab,                                              | April, 1986                                                                                                                                | Report and decision under section 5(2) given in                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |

|    | Water Tribunal (RB WT)                     | Haryana and Rajasthan   |                                                                                                                                      | April, 1987. Clarification/explanation sought from the Tribunal under File No.H-11016/134/2021-BM Section-MOWR I/53475/2021 25 Section 5(3) of the said Act by the party States. Presidential Reference 1 of 2004 was made on the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has pronounced the judgement on Presidential Reference in negative. Further, Government of Haryana has filed IA No. 6 of 2016 in OS No. 6 of 1996 in the matter. The matter is subjudice.                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|----|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  5 | Vansadhara Water Disputes Tribunal (VW DT) | Andhra Pradesh& Odisha  | February, 2010 However, as per the Supreme Court order the date of reckoning of the constitution of the Tribunal is w.e.f. 17.9.2012 | The Tribunal has submitted its report to the Central Government under Section 5(2) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 on 13.09.2017. Further, State of Odisha and the Central Government filed reference under Section 5(3) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 on 11.12.2017 and 12.12.2017 respectively. The State of Odisha has also filed I.A. No.1 of 2019 before the Tribunal and the Tribunal gave its judgement in the matter on 23.09.2019. Subsequently, the State of Odisha has filed SLPC(C) No.27930/2019 before the Supreme Court against Order dated 23.09.2019 which is subjudice. Now, the Tribunal has furnished its Further Report dated 21.06.2021 under section 5(3) of the ISRWD Act. |

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