New Delhi: Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Punjab's law scrapping water-sharing agreements with Haryana and other neighbouring states is unconstitutional, adding that the Sutlej Yamuna Canal or SYL canal, which is at the centre of a row between Punjab and Haryana, has to be completed.
The court also said Punjab cannot unilaterally move out of an agreement involving other states.
After the recent sparring between southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery waters, the Sutlej Yamuna link dispute now takes the centrestage with political temperatures soaring in the poll-bound Punjab after Supreme Court's decision of stricking down state's unilateral abrogation of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) water-sharing agreement with Haryana and other neighbouring states.
Here are the major ongoing inter-state river-sharing disputes:
Krishna
States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
Progress of the tribunal: Set up in 2004, the second Krishna tribunal gave its verdict in 2013, which was challenged by Uniter Andhra Pradesh. After that, in June 2014, Telangana was carved out of Andhra and demanded fresh allocation of waters to the four states. The tribunal is yet to issue its final order.
Cauvery
States: Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
Progress of the tribunal: Set up in 1990, the tribunal gave its verdict in 2007, which has been challenged by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The matter is in Supreme Court.
Ravi and Beas
States: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan
Progress of the tribunal: The tribunal was established in 1986 and gave its report the following year but Punjab in 2004 passed an Act terminating all water-sharing agreements with its neighbours, which the President referred to the Supreme Court, where the state is now fighting. Haryana, Punjab has asked for a new tribunal.
Vansadhara
States: Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Progress of the tribunal: The tribunal was constituted in 2010 and has not reached the verdict.
Mahadayi/Mandovi
States: Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka
Progress of the tribunal: The tribunal was set up in 2010 and has not delivered its verdict. The tribunal's rejection of a plea by Karnataka to divert water from the river in July led to the violence.
Mahanadi
States: Chhattisgarh, Odisha
Progress of the tribunal: The Opposition in Odisha is demanding that a tribunal be set to address the state's concerns over Chhattisgarh's building of barrage on the river, which will reduce the river flow in Odisha.
TRIBUNALS IN THE PAST
Krishna
States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
Constitution and award of tribunal: Set up in 1969, the first tribunal gave its award in 1976
Narmada
States: Rajasthan, MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra
Constitution and award of tribunal: The tribunal gave its verdict in 1979, a decade after it was established.
Godavari
State: Maharashta, AP, Karnataka, MP, Odisha
Constitution and award of tribunal: Formed in 1969, the tribunal gave its award in 1980.
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