River linking alone cannot resolve India's water disputes
Amit Shah's push for river interlinking masks deep-rooted water disputes and governance challenges across southern India.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent address at the Southern Zonal Council meeting in Mamallapuram has reignited the debate on India's water-sharing woes. His call for early resolution of inter-state river disputes and his endorsement of ambitious river-linking projects — from the Brahmaputra to the Godavari and Cauvery — suggest a confidence that such mega-engineering can end water scarcity for a century. The reality on the ground, however, is far more complex.
Take the Pennaiyar river dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu first sought a tribunal in November 2019, citing violations of an 1892 agreement. Despite two negotiation committees and eleven meetings, no tribunal has been constituted. The Supreme Court directed the Centre to form one in February, later extending the deadline by six months — yet the body remains absent. In an unusual move, the Centre has even asked the court whether the Pennaiyar matter could be folded into the existing Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal, a suggestion that finds no support in the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956. Similarly, Tamil Nadu's March request for a tribunal on Karnataka's Mekedatu dam project has drawn no response from the Centre.
Beyond legal delays, the ecological and social costs of river interlinking are substantial. Kerala has opposed the Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar link, warning of damage to the Vembanad wetland system. The National Water Development Agency, however, maintains that lean-season flows have been factored into its plans. Tribal communities in Chhatarpur have also protested the ₹44,000 crore Ken-Betwa Link Project, whose foundation stone was laid in 2024.
Historically, successful inter-basin transfers in India — the Mullaperiyar dam, Parambikulam-Aliyar project, Krishna Water Supply Project and Indira Gandhi Canal — remain exceptions rather than the rule. A Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers, formed after 2014, has met over two dozen times with little to show.
Experts argue that the focus should shift from supply-side mega projects to demand-side management. With land acquisition becoming harder and groundwater extraction rising — often encouraged by free electricity for agriculture — the need for conservation and farmer incentives has never been more urgent. Unless water is treated as a shared, finite resource, disputes will only multiply.