Cauvery, Courts and Some Larger Questions

As the long-standing Cauvery dispute shows, frequent resort to court mediation reflects a growing politicisation that relies more on judicial orders to redress grievances rather than taking recourse to forums especially established for bilateral discussions and negotiations. While the courts hold out the prospect for a speedier resolution, forums established for participatory discussions lack the necessary framework to be meaningful - a gap, which the draft national policy guidelines for water allocation tried unsuccessfully to fill.