Re-negotiating the Cauvery River Water Dispute in Changing Geopolitics and Ecological Era

Abstract

For hundreds of years, conflicts in water sharing have existed all around the globe. Cauvery River, in the southern part of India, has been in the midst of such conflict for the last 130 years. The Cauvery conflict between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka resurfaces whenever there's a shortfall in the Southwest Monsoon in the region. Historically, the conflict has been about the right to use water and the states/provinces in conflict have used the water from the river for agricultural purposes. Due to industrialization in the late 1980s and increasing population, water availability in the region has become stressed. The paper is an attempt to analyse the history and recent issue of Cauvery river water dispute. The paper also highlight the climate change that exacerbated the region’s water availability issues. Faltering rainfall has caused unrest in the region, and the traditional methods of water sharing are dwindling under political pressure. The purpose of this paper is to suggest the solution to Cauvery river dispute lies in effective water conservation strategy. Without a climate change strategy, the governments of these states will never be able to solve this complex issue at hand. Here's an in-depth study of historical, political and ecological aspects of this dispute.