We can reach an amicable agreement with neighbouring countries on river water sharing but tie ourselves up in knots when it comes to inter-State interactions (“Palar row: Jayalalithaa says A.P.’s move violates pact”, July 2). The Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956 ( IRWD Act) appears to exist only on paper and even though the Central government has the power to settle and implement the awards of Tribunals/court rulings, it never dares to do so for political reasons. The dispute over the Palar river shows that most States have still to evolve and implement a pragmatic water management plan. Water bodies are never maintained and disappear in the business of illegal land reclamation because of the powerful builder-politician nexus. Even with the unpredictable monsoon patterns, conserving about 10 per cent of monsoon rain run-off can help a State reach its target of moving away from river dependency.
N. Ramamurthy,
Chennai
