After 200 years of a bitter battle for water, the Supreme Court resolved a conflict that had become a part of folklore in the farming villages of central Kashmir. The agreement to share waters of Shaliganga River—which had turned the 101 villages of Kolwalas and 67 villages of Aharwalas into enemies for generations—is based on an arrangement made by the then Afghan Governor Atta Mohammad Khan, who ruled Kashmir in 1808.“Finally, it was the age of the case that prompted the HC to settle it on priority,” says Registrar General of J-K HC Hassnain Masoodi. “Though an appeal against the judgement was filed by Kolwalas in the apex court, it upheld the HC decision,” he added.Advocate Zafar Ahmad Shah, representing Arahwalas said, “The case involved 168 villages on both sides in perpetual animosity over sharing of water. It was like fighting for a good cause to pursue a settlement.” The settlement, on a modest scale, is an improvisation on Indus Water Treaty.According to HC decision, the Kolwalas, a cluster of upper Riparian villages can utilise the water from the river and its tributaries Jani, Lau, Sourmai and Nankhul for three days and three nights, followed by Arahwalas for a day and one night.Arahwalas still remember their ancestor Nabir Bhat, who in 19th century went to Jammu, 345 miles away, on foot wearing the traditional wooden sandals to fight the case in Maharaja Gulab Singh’s court. “It strikes a sensitive chord with us.,” says Haji Muhammad Subhan Bhat, Chairman of the 12 member hereditary panel, which fought the case on behalf of Arahwallas.The case is termed in J-K HC as “relic of the past”.
