📌 Why in News?
Under the Constitution, Entry 17 of the State List covers water, water supplies, irrigation, canals, drainage, embankments, water storage and water power, subject to Union List Entry 56.
Entry 56 of the Union List empowers Parliament to regulate and develop inter-State rivers and river valleys when such regulation in the public interest is declared expedient.
Syllabus & Relevance
Paper: GS-2
Theme: Polity & Governance
Static Foundation
Article 262 allows Parliament to provide for adjudication of disputes involving interstate river waters.
But an international treaty with Bangladesh belongs to the Union's foreign-relations and treaty-making domain.
Article 253 empowers Parliament to make legislation for implementing treaties, agreements and international decisions.
Therefore, Bihar or West Bengal cannot themselves negotiate an international treaty with Bangladesh.
Yet cooperative federalism requires the Union to take seriously the interests of basin states because the consequences of an international water arrangement are experienced locally.
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