Six States Sign Pact for Kishau Multipurpose Project

Key Highlights & Summary 

• Inter-State Accord Signed: Six states—Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan—signed a pact for implementing the 422 MW Kishau Multipurpose Project valued at ₹15,624 crore. 

• Project Location and Infrastructure: The project features a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam constructed across the Tons river, a major tributary of the Yamuna, along the Uttarakhand–Himachal Pradesh border.

 • Funding Architecture: The Central Government will bear 90% of the financial burden, with the remaining 10% shared among participating states as per a 1994 inter-state agreement. 

• Irrigation and Power Output: The dam\'s water storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres will irrigate 97,000 hectares of land and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydroelectricity annually. 

 • Drinking Water Allocation: Delhi stands out as the primary beneficiary, gaining 109.9 million cubic metres of water annually to resolve critical drinking water needs. 

• Inter-State Dispute Resolution: Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted that this historic agreement marks the resolution of the tenth major inter-state water dispute under the current administration. 

Essential Definitions 

• Multipurpose Project: An integrated water management project designed to concurrently serve multiple objectives such as power generation, irrigation, flood control, and drinking water supply.

 • Gravity Dam: A massive dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry that resists the horizontal thrust of water impounded behind it solely through its own structural weight. 

• Tons River: The largest tributary of the Yamuna River that flows through Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, joining the Yamuna near Kalsi. 

Legal and Constitutional Framework 

• Article 262 of the Constitution: Grants Parliament exclusive authority to adjudicate disputes or complaints relating to the use, distribution, or control of waters in inter-state rivers or river valleys. 

• Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956: Enacted under Article 262 to set up tribunals for resolving water allocation conflicts among riparian states. 

• Entry 17 of the State List (Seventh Schedule): Subjects water supplies, irrigation, canals, drainage, and storage to state regulation, subject to Entry 56 of the Union List regarding interstate river development. 

Conclusion The cooperative agreement on the Kishau Multipurpose Project showcases cooperative federalism in resolving prolonged inter-state river disputes. By integrating infrastructure funding and resource allocation across six states, the pact ensures regional water security and clean energy production while mitigating historical dispute bottlenecks.

 UPSC Relevance 

• GS Paper II (Governance & Polity): Inter-State relations, Cooperative Federalism, Statutory bodies, and Constitutional provisions for inter-state river water dispute resolution. 

• GS Paper III (Economy & Infrastructure): Renewable hydro-energy projects, irrigation infrastructure, water resource management, and regional development models.