Sukhbir Badal writes to PM, seeks intervention in Punjab-Haryana water dispute
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the ongoing water dispute between Punjab and Haryana.In his letter, he strongly opposed Haryana's demand for an increased share of Nangal dam and said that the issue of Punjab's river waters is not a dispute but a case of 'brazen loot against the people of the patriotic border state'.advertisementBadal urged the Prime Minister's immediate intervention to rectify what he called "longstanding injustices" meted out to Punjab.
The SAD chief 'cautioned the country that not removing the reasons for the alienation of Punjabis can push us back towards the conditions that afflicted us all for over two decades.""Justice is the best guarantee for peace and communal harmony in the country," the letter said.Badal further appealed for the resolution of Punjab's 'just grievances' and termed it a national priority to prevent the recurrence of past turmoil. 'Punjabis demand no favours: they seek only justice,' he wrote, urging that the same principles used in interstate disputes across India be applied in Punjab's case.Taking aim at the AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Badal criticised him and his party for their statements about irrigating every field in Haryana and Rajasthan with Punjab's waters. He said such promises weaken Punjab's legitimate claim that it does not have a single drop of water to spare.advertisement'The Chief Minister is playing with fire with his duplicity, not realising the gravity of the issue. He must put an end to this double speak,' said the Akali leader.Reaffirming his party's stance, Badal further said that the Shiromani Akali Dal will not remain "a mute witness to any discrimination against Punjab on this or any other issue."'We will exercise our democratic right to peacefully ensure that no injustice is done to the state,' he said.He further alleged that Rajasthan and Haryana have always been 'illegal beneficiaries' of Punjab's river waters - state's sole natural resource, violating the Riparian principle, which he described as the standard for river water allocation nationally and internationally. 'Neither Haryana nor Rajasthan is a Riparian state,' he claimed.The SAD chief went on to criticise the Supreme Court's directive to construct the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal without assessing the water availability in the rivers. 'This would have been the first canal in the world to be constructed even without knowing if there is any water available to flow through it,' he said, recalling that former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal refused to implement the order and instead returned the acquired land to its original owner farmers.Addressing the current controversy over the release of water to Haryana, Badal said the neighbouring state had already consumed more than its allocated share. 'Instead of being grateful to Punjab, it brazenly demands even more water,' he said.Must Watch
IN THIS STORY#Punjab#Haryana
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