Be it Congress or BJP at Centre, Punjab has always been betrayed: State minister Aman Arora
Chandigarh: Punjab minister
Aman Arora
on Monday accused the BJP-led central govt and the Haryana administration of decades-long exploitation of Punjab's river water and likened it to "putting a knee on Punjab's neck".
Speaking during a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Arora described the state's water crisis as the result of a long history of what he called deliberate and systemic injustice, dating back to 1955. "Punjab has been betrayed repeatedly — by both Congress and BJP govt at the Centre. They've treated Punjab like a milking cow, taking our water and grain, but giving nothing in return," Arora said.
He cited the
Indus Waters Treaty
of 1960, under which 80% of Punjab's river water was diverted to Pakistan, as the starting point of this injustice. He went on to criticise the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966, the Tripartite Agreement of 1981, and other administrative decisions, alleging they undermined Punjab's rights collectively.
"Despite being a riparian state, Punjab was forced to surrender water to non-riparian states like Haryana and Rajasthan, violating international riparian norms," Arora said. He added that Punjab's original water allocation of 15.85 million acre-feet (MAF) in 1955 was later inflated to 17.17 MAF in 1981 to justify transferring more water to neighbouring states.
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Turning his ire toward the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Arora accused the party of capitulating to central pressure and weakening Punjab's stance. He said the earlier SAD govt of Parkash Singh Badal had demanded ₹3 crore for constructing the controversial Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in July 1978 — despite knowing it went against Punjab's interests.
"In March 1979, they even accepted ₹1 crore from Haryana for SYL construction. That was the moment they signed Punjab's death warrant," Arora said. He alleged that the SAD govt had, later, bowed to pressure from Congress-led govts in Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana to accept the 1981 Tripartite Agreement.
The SYL canal has long been a flashpoint between Punjab and Haryana, with Punjab arguing it does not have enough water to spare and any diversion would critically endanger its agriculture-dependent economy. Arora's remarks come amid renewed political unity in Punjab's assembly over the need to protect the state's dwindling water resources, with leaders across parties demanding a re-evaluation of historical water-sharing agreements.
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