Ever since the beginning of civilisation on the banks of the Indus, rivers have been a crucial aspect of life in India as they gave rise to thriving communities and travel routes across the country. For this, they have also been worshiped and protected for centuries. Sadly, while major rivers of India like Ganga and Yamuna are bearing the brunt of rising industrialisation and pollution, they have become instruments for political agendas. In several cases, they have divided people, with standoffs between states over sharing water from rivers. There is already an ongoing Satluj-Yamuna Link canal dispute between Punjab and Haryana that has created problems for Delhi as well and triggered a political crisis. Here is a look at similar water disputes that have been making headlines over the past several years.

Kaveri river dispute

The Kaveri or Cauvery river water dispute is one of the most talked about and old river disputes in India, dating back all the way to the 19th century. It is a dispute between Tamil Nadi and Karnataka.

Karnataka, which has always contended that it doesn't receive a fair share of the water and an agreement from 1924 favoured Madras Presidency, has demanded a renegotiated settlement. Tamil Nadu says that change in the current water sharing deal will affect millions of farmers in the state. A tribunal constituted in 1990 gave a verdict in 2007. The issue remains unresolved due to a review petition, and controversies including Jayalalitha sitting on a fast in protest and a Tamil Nadu farmer committing suicide, The Hindu reported.

Krishna river water dispute

Like Kaveri, Krishna river water dispute also has its roots in the colonial period. It is about a disagreement between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, regarding sharing the water from the river which flows into the bay of Bengal.

The government of India constituted the first Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT-I) in 1969 to resolve the dispute and KWDT-II was constituted in 2004. The controversy was solved in 2010, but saw a new twist with the formation of Telangana as a separate state, as it gave way to a fresh tussle between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, The Economic Times reported.