Environment and Disaster Management › Environmental law and institutions
हिन्दी — Read in HindiRivers: sharing, linking and disputes
Disputes between States and how they are settled, river linking, and the rivers India shares with its other neighbours. It serves GS1 answers on resources and GS2 answers on federalism.
Foundation note: The Indus Waters Treaty
Showing 4 of 9 articles, those that changed from 1 to 30 June 2026.Show all
Farakka and the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty
Copy link to Farakka and the 1996 Ganges Water TreatyPrelims and Mains
The Farakka Barrage, commissioned in 1975 on the Ganga in West Bengal, diverts water into the Bhagirathi Hooghly to keep Kolkata port navigable, a purpose inside India rather than at the border.
- On the Ganga India is the upstream State and Bangladesh the downstream one, the reverse of India's position on the Brahmaputra.
- The 1996 India Bangladesh Ganga Water Sharing Treaty shares the lean season flow at Farakka; Bangladesh gets half the flow when it is below 70,000 cusecs, and in March to May each side gets at least 35,000 cusecs in alternating ten day periods.
- The treaty expires in December 2026, and both countries say talks to extend it are under way.
- Reduced flow downstream has dried rivers, lowered groundwater, raised salinity and cut fresh water to the Sundarbans.
- Bihar, upstream of the barrage, blames it for trapping silt and worsening its floods, a contested claim.
The 1996 Ganges Water Treaty formula
| When | How the flow is shared |
|---|---|
| Flow below 70,000 cusecs | Half each |
| March to May | At least 35,000 cusecs to each side in alternating ten day periods |
What changed
15 Jun 2026
- Bangladesh approved a barrage on the Padma downstream of Farakka.
- A slower Padma drops silt on its bed and floods faster in the monsoon.
Mains: Experts argue big barrages rarely manage complex river systems and favour a series of smaller check dams, and note that Chinese involvement could weaken India's standing as the region's water actor.
The Hindu, 15 Jun 2026: Dhaka's new Padma barrage will reshape South Asia's water power map (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 1 Jun 2026: What is Bangladesh's Padma Barrage? (opens in a new tab)
Cauvery and Mekedatu
Copy link to Cauvery and MekedatuPrelims and Mains
The Cauvery Water Management Authority implements the sharing of the river between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry as fixed by the tribunal and modified by the Supreme Court in 2018.
- Mekedatu is a dam Karnataka proposes on the river inside its own territory.
Appraisal in the Cauvery basin
State report
The State submits a preliminary report
CWC scrutiny
The Central Water Commission checks hydrology and inter State aspects
Project report
Preparation of the detailed project report is approved
Technical note
The CWC sends a technical note to the Cauvery Water Management Authority
Authority's view
The authority gives its view, or is presumed to concur after six months
Other clearances
Environmental and tribal clearances follow
What changed
25 Jun 2026
- The Tamil Nadu Assembly on 19 June unanimously opposed Mekedatu and sought a tribunal.
- The Supreme Court had dismissed Tamil Nadu's review of a November 2025 decision calling its challenge premature.
- Karnataka is preparing a revised project report.
- Tamil Nadu also opposes new Central Water Commission (CWC) guidelines whose presumptive concurrence clause treats the authority as agreeing if it gives no view within six months.
Mains: The dispute is driven by a trust deficit between the riparian States rather than the project's stated drinking water purpose.
The Hindu, 25 Jun 2026: Furore over the Mekedatu project (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 26 Jun 2026: Why is Tamil Nadu opposing the Centre's latest guidelines on Cauvery basin? | Explained (opens in a new tab)
Show history (1 other update)
30 Jul 2026
- The Cauvery Water Management Authority upheld a direction that Karnataka release 3,500 cusecs a day to Tamil Nadu.
- On Mekedatu the Centre told Parliament that the 2018 Supreme Court judgment does not require Karnataka to obtain other States' permission.
- But any revised project report needs appraisal by the Central Water Commission and the Authority's views.
Mains: Karnataka often meets the annual quantity but not the monthly schedule, so compliance figures and distress can both be true.
The Tungabhadra and the Krishna award
Copy link to The Tungabhadra and the Krishna awardPrelims and Mains
The Tungabhadra is a tributary of the Krishna, formed where the Tunga and Bhadra, which rise in the Western Ghats, join near Shivamogga. Its dam of 1955 irrigates land in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- The Tungabhadra Board regulates supplies under the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, which in 1976 fixed a 65:35 Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh share; the fixed formula and the Board have kept the project largely free of disputes.
What changed
25 Jun 2026BriefThe three Chief Ministers and the Jal Shakti Minister inaugurated new steel spillway gates after a crest gate was washed away in August 2024. Siltation has cut the dam's storage, and Telangana asks that the Board be strengthened under the Central Water Commission. The Hindu, 25 Jun 2026: Tungabhadra river: Origin, course, dam project and inter-State water sharing explained (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 29 Jun 2026: Sharing waters: On the Tungabhadra model (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 26 Jun 2026: What is the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme | Explained (opens in a new tab)
The Teesta and China
Copy link to The Teesta and ChinaPrelims and Mains
The Teesta is a river shared by India and Bangladesh, rising from Tso Lhamu lake in Sikkim.
- India uses it for hydropower in Sikkim and irrigation at the Gajoldoba barrage in West Bengal.
- Bangladesh's flows drop to a trickle from December to February when India holds water upstream, and the Teesta treaty remains unsigned.
- A lower riparian project cannot alter the river upstream in India.
What changed
27 Jun 2026BriefBangladesh's Prime Minister received China's assurance in Beijing in June on the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project, under a 2016 memorandum of understanding with the Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA). The Hindu, 27 Jun 2026: Explained | China, Bangladesh in talks over Teesta project (opens in a new tab)
See also: Farakka and the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty