Inter Basin Water Transfer Link Project of India

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Trans Boundary River Management

The issue of managing international rivers would be more convenient had there been an international government or an overarching authority that could oversee such a task. However, the international system remain anarchical without a clear set of laws for states to follow.

The principles of international law applicable to the use of transboundary resources like rivers are many and often contradictory. The principle of absolute sovereignty, for example, cannot coexist with the principle of Common law. A state is bound to cross the threshold of the Common law principle if it exploits the river seeking only short-term benefits and clinging to the principle of absolute territorial sovereignty. Principles of res communis and equitable apportionment are more pragmatic and sensible as they provide for a balance of these contradicting forces.

In order to manage the river, from an environmental policy perspective, a regulatory institution that would provide all the riparian states with a common framework, a clear set of rules and provisions for the utilization and conservation of its waters and related resources is a sine qua non.

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