Water disputes

Mullaperiyar is a dam in Kerala. In 1886, The Princely State of Travancore was forced to sign a treaty to lease the dam site for 999 years(!) to the then Madras government.

Not a single day passes without a report on the dam issue in the national dailies. My friends and I jokingly refer to this as the "most significant news item". Of course, Mamata Banerjee had been accorded that status for the past twenty five days :)

Today, V.K. Krishna Iyer has written something on Mullaperiyar in The Hindu. He says that the disputes should not be about who gets the water. And that the challenge should be of greater production with more water utilized for the benefit of both states. I thought it was strikingly simple, even obvious, but something that isn't the cornerstone of our water dispute settlements among states. What he said immediately crystalized the often fractious nature of our federal state with national priorities challenged by parochial interests.

Indian constitution makers knew that centrifugal forces on the states could become strong and have deliberately made our Centre much stronger than the states. Heck, the head a state (governor) is appointed by the Center!