rivers of India cover more than a single state, problems of reconciling inter-state interests arise. The greater the scarcity of water in relation to land, the more intense can be the conflict in sharing the waters among the states of the basin. Here, as a result of the past history of water dispute, such as that in the United States, rather acceptable principles for sharing river waters have emerged For example, sharing water in proportion to the contribution to river flow by the catchment area of each state is a good working principle. Yet, negotiations in practice can be quite acrimonious, partly for genuine reasons (e g, unequal burden of disruption costs due to submergence of land by a reservoir) and partly for lack of a correct understanding of the complex nature of the water resource on the part of people at large.
