Water being an emotive issue, only a mandated institution can provide a platform to build consensus among States On the occasion of World Water Day, 2002, Kofi Annan, the then U.N. Secretary General, had warned that "water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict.' Similar sentiments were echoed recently by Ban Ki-moon in his message on World Water Day, 2008, that the problems growing from the scarcity of a vital resource (like water) would spill over state borders creating a high risk of violent conflict.

The groundwater level in Dhaka is dipping because of a massive extraction of water from underground, according to a recent study. Experts said that the groundwater level was declining by up to three metres every year, posing a threat of landslide. According to a report,

Water scarcity is the albatross around our collective neck

Political tensions over the disputed Hogenakkal water project have eased, but for how long? PC VINOJ KUMAR & SANJANA report

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Government of India to workout a compensatory mechanism for the huge recurring losses being suffered by Jammu & Kashmir because of the discriminatory Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and arbitrary exploitation of the State's water resources by the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) for power generation.

Recent pictures taken by Google Earth via satellite have confirmed the worst fears of environmentalists. An eight-km stretch of the Bhagirathi river has dried up. The river is shown snaking through the Himalayan mountains as one long, sandy stretch minus any water. Other rivers emanating from the Gangotri glacier, including the Bhilangana, the Assi Ganga and the Alaknanda, all tributaries of the Ganga river, are also drying up. This same dry stretch of the Bhagirathi in 2004, according to Google Earth pictures generated at that time, was one-km-long.

A discussion is currently underway at the Ministry of water resources and water management to review the earlier decision taken to impose a 15 percent VAT on water bills.

World Bank is considering to provide 30 million dollars grant for improvement in water resources management and development in Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda). According to official sources, the Wapda will co-ordinate the large investments in water projects and to expand the electricity network across Pakistan.

Fresh attempts on religious grounds to oppose the Sethusamudram project evoked sharp reactions from the Indian Supreme Court, which expressed its displeasure for calling