BBMB row: HC defers hearing on Punjab's plea to Aug 21
The high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry posted the matter for hearing on August 21 while allowing the petitioner state to implead Haryana as a party to the dispute, which was not done in the petition.
At the heart of the controversy are April 23 and April 28, BBMB decisions allowing the release of 8,500 cusecs (4,500 cusecs additional) of water to Haryana despite opposition from Punjab.
The Punjab government refused to accept the decision and deployed police at Nangal dam, 13km downstream from Bhakra, to stop the additional water release.
On May 6, the high court directed Punjab to release additional water, an order which was unsuccessfully challenged up to the Supreme Court by the Punjab government. However, additional water was not allowed to be released, and BBMB officials alleged that they were prevented from executing the HC orders by the Punjab Police. Recently, BBMB has decided to hand over the security of the installations to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and has even made a payment of ₹8.58 crore to the Union ministry of home affairs for the security force's deployment.
'The present writ petition has been filed by the state of Punjab challenging the jurisdictional overreach and arbitrary actions of BBMB, particularly in relation to the illegal allocation of water from Bhakra-Nangal Dam to the state of Haryana beyond its agreed share,' the petition said, which also demand appointment of a 'neutral and impartial chairman' through a process involving all partner states. Currently, the appointment is done by the Centre.
'Punjab had repeatedly raised objections to overdraws by Haryana and Rajasthan, which were disregarded. BBMB's actions were based on an unrecognised technical committee meeting and later Board meetings convened in clear violation of BBMB's own rules. The matter was referred to the Union power ministry under Rule 7 of the BBMB rules, but BBMB unlawfully continued holding meetings and making decisions even after such reference,' the petition reads.
The petition says BBMB convened April 30 and May 3 meetings in contravention of BBMB regulations, as the minimum notice period of seven days for urgent meetings and circulation of the agenda 12 days in advance were not adhered to.
'The BBMB is only empowered to regulate supply as per existing agreements, not to unilaterally allocate excess water,' the plea says.
The BBMB was established by the Union power ministry in 1966 under Section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, which regulates water distribution from Bhakra, Nangal and Pong dams between Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan.
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