The partition of India is one among the top ten tragedies in the homo-sapien history. Partition of India wobbled from communal to economic edges, translated itself into geographical boundaries from geographical distances, moved from sensitive to the strategic factors. It divided not only the Hindus and Muslims living together for ages, not only struck the cultures and caused the greatest migration ever, but this `divide and relinquish' policy led to the endless boundary disputes. The Radcliffe Line devised by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, which equitably divided 175,000 sq miles of territory among 88 million people, became the border between India and Pakistan. It managed to provide international entity to the two countriesIndia and Pakistan, but it failed to draw a geo-politically sound line, though it made a perfect line as a political cover, it had long lasting repercussions with regard to mass violence and frequent conflicts. Apart from the tremendous dislocation of inhabitants of the two nations, there is a watermark of dispute in the partition history. Since the boundaries were made without any understanding of impact of resource partition, this led to the fact that water issue has stoked tensions between the two nations. The watermarks of partition are too deep and intense to remove the conflict between the two nations and so it is essential to understand all linkages with water. The paper aims at understanding the footprints of the past and suggesting the strategies for future.

Indian agricultural production is more dependent on monsoon. The agriculture in India is highly correlated with the prevalent water management practices. In India, as the monsoon is only confined to a few monsoon months, the water storage and water conservation practices become all the more important. It has been noticed that the erratic nature of monsoon on this subcontinent while is paving the way for drought and famines in some areas, leads to floods in other areas. It is only the intelligent and strategic water management practices that can lead to the development of the social, economic and demographic frontiers of the country. In the yesteryears, there were agricultural taxes which were levied by the kings to construct and maintain the structures for water diversion and water storage. In the ancient history, there are evidences of mass migration due to lack of pure drinking water. There are also stories of revolts and rebellions when the rulers overtaxed the masses. With the colonial rule of the British, a club of parasitic intermediaries was introduced between the states and the tax-paying masses. This paved the way for dilution of knowledge about the traditional water structures and also withered the community approach to integrated water management practices. The water structures were at colonial dispensation and soon they were damaged to a great extent.

Colonization led to a catastrophic movement to curb urbanization and industrialization and, therefore, it aimed at destruction of trade and industry in the country. There was an imposed restriction on the usage of inland waterways, and this obstructed the fishing, inland waterways and transportation.

Water, being the most important source of living, has always been in the limelight, but the Radcliffe Line that demarcates between India and Pakistan has only left the watermarks of water. Apart from the natural spatial distribution of water which has always existed, there has been a geographical imbalance created because of the Radcliffe Line.

History and Culture Journal, Radcliffe Line, Economic Edges, Geographical Boundaries, Water Management Practices, Colonial Dispensation, Catastrophic Movements, Colonization, Urbanization, Industrialization, Inland Waterways, Geographical Partitions.