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Hans India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Facing crisis, Punjab has no water to share: CM Mann to NITI Aayog
New Delhi: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday clarified that Punjab has no surplus water for any state, including Haryana, owing to the water crisis. Taking part in the meeting of the 10th Governing Council of the NITI Aayog here, the Chief Minister said in the wake of the grim situation of water in the state, the Yamuna-Sutlej-Link (YSL) canal should be considered for construction instead of the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Mann said the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers are already in deficit, and water should be diverted from surplus to deficit basins. He said Punjab has repeatedly requested to be included in negotiations for the allocation of Yamuna waters, as a pact for the Yamuna-Sutlej Link project was signed between the erstwhile Punjab and Uttar Pradesh on March 12, 1954, which entitled the erstwhile Punjab to two-thirds of the Yamuna waters. The Chief Minister said this agreement did not specify any particular area to be irrigated by Yamuna waters, adding that before the reorganisation, the Yamuna, like the Ravi and the Beas, flowed through the erstwhile state of Punjab. However, he said while apportioning the river waters between Punjab and Haryana, the Yamuna waters were not considered, whereas the waters of the Ravi and the Beas were duly taken into account. Citing a 1972 report by the Irrigation Commission, constituted by the Government of India, Mann said it states that Punjab (post-1966, after its reorganisation) falls within the Yamuna river basin. Therefore, the Chief Minister said that if Haryana has a claim over the waters of the Ravi and the Beas, Punjab should also have an equal claim on the Yamuna waters. He said these requests have been ignored, adding that due to the non-construction of a storage structure on the Yamuna, water is going to waste. Therefore, Mann pleaded that Punjab's claim should be considered during the revision of this agreement, and Punjab should be given its due rights to Yamuna waters. Raising the issue of bias approach of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), the Chief Minister said the board was constituted under the provisions of the Punjab Reorganization Act of 1966 with the mandate to regulate the supply of water and power from the Bhakra, Nangal and Beas projects to the partner states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh. Mann said that in the past, Punjab has been very liberal in sharing water with the partner states to meet their drinking water and other genuine requirements, as Punjab was relying upon its groundwater reserves to meet its demand for water, particularly for the paddy crop. He said that as a result, the groundwater level has depleted to a huge extent, so much so that 115 blocks out of 153 blocks of Punjab (76.10 per cent) are over-exploited, adding this percentage is the highest amongst all the states in the country. The Chief Minister said now with the upgraded canal structure, Punjab itself is running short of its water requirement, and even its water share in the river waters is not sufficient to meet these requirements. Despite repeated requests, he said the BBMB did not take any action to advise the other partner states to regulate the release of water to Haryana, and as a result, it exhausted its share by March 30. Mann said, considering the request of the government of Haryana on humanitarian grounds, the state decided to release 4,000 cusecs of water out of Punjab's share to meet its drinking water requirement, though Haryana has only a genuine demand of 1,700 cusecs of water. However, the Chief Minister said the BBMB ignored the interest of Punjab and decided to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana despite serious objections raised by Punjab. He said this is against the spirit and provisions of the law, as the BBMB has taken this decision of taking Punjab's water against its consent, adding that the BBMB should be advised to restrain itself and act as per the provisions of law.
Hindustan Times
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Will use every constitutional, legal remedy to get our water share: Saini
A resolution was passed by consensus during an all-party meeting asking the Punjab government to implement the April 23 and 30 decisions of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to allocate 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana unconditionally. With the neighbouring Punjab not showing any inclination to abide with the advice of the central government to allow flow of 8,500 cusecs of Bhakra water to Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini on Saturday said that the state will not stay quiet and use every constitutional platform and legal remedy to protect its interests. Saini who chaired an all-party meeting on Saturday said that a resolution was passed by consensus asking the Punjab government to implement the April 23 and 30 decisions of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to allocate 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana unconditionally. Leaders cutting across party lines – Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Udai Bhan from Congress, Mohan Lal Badoli from BJP, Dushyant Chautala of the JJP, Rampal Majra and Aditya Devi Lal of the INLD and Sushil Gupta from the AAP - attended the Saturday meeting. The CM said that by refusing to comply with the allocation of water decided by the BBMB for Haryana, Punjab government has not only done injustice with Haryana but initiated a direct attack on federalism. Saini said this water is meant for drinking purposes and by curtailing the allocation, Punjab is doing great injustice. 'It is a wrong precedent being set by the Punjab government. A state cannot be allowed to hit at the federal structure of the country. Punjab being a border state should act in a more responsible manner. We do not want any confrontation with Punjab but are seeking the co-operation from Punjab,' Saini said a press briefing after the meeting. Saini said that Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann who has taken oath of Constitution is indulging in an unconstitutional act by refusing to comply with the BBMB decision. 'This water belongs to the nation. It does not belong to one particular state. This is not a such a big issue as has been made out by the Punjab government. For years, Haryana has been getting more water from Bhakra at Haryana contact point even when the water level was low. For instance, in 2018 and 2019 when the dam water level was quite low at about 1,533 feet and 1,623 feet respectively, Haryana got 8,135 cusecs and 10,183 cusecs respectively,' Saini said. The CM said that if the water is not utilised adequately from the dam as its level is at 1,555 feet now, it will get wasted as it will have to be released to Pakistan. Saini said the Punjab CMs claim that Haryana has exhausted its share of water on March 31, is misleading. 'The BBMB data shows that Haryana has used its quota. But for April 2025, BBMBs technical committee allocated additional water to Haryana. Mann's move to not allow the additional water to flow to Haryana is not only unethical but illegal and unconstitutional,' Saini said. Saini said that the Punjab CM should not forgot that Haryana was not allocated less than 9,000 cusecs of water in the months of April and May in 2022, 2023, 2024 at Haryana contact point HCP. 'In May 2022, an average 9,727 cusecs was allocated while in May 2023, an average 9,850 cusec and in May 2024 an average 10,067 cusecs was allocated,' he said. 'The water allocated in May from Bhakra is used by Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan for their drinking needs only. In the last many years, about 800 cusecs of Haryana water has been allocated to Rajasthan, 400 cusecs to Punjab and 500 cusecs for Delhi for fulfilling its drinking water needs,' Saini said. Former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that deployment of Punjab Police at Nangal dam to prevent release of water to Haryana was a serious matter. BOX Punjab has been getting more water from Bhakra Nangal as compared to its share for the last 10 years. Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini on Saturday said that the technical committee of the BBMB in its April 23 meeting decided to allocate 8,500 cusecs water to Haryana. The April 30 meeting of the Board of BBMB reiterated the April 23 decision of the technical committee. 'Haryana's total allocation is 12.55 million acre feet (MAF) but it is actually getting 10.67 MAF water. On the other hand, neighbouring Punjab's allocation is 14.67 MAF but it is utilising 17.15 MAF water. Thus, its clear that Punjab is using more water than its allocation while Haryana is getting 17% less water of its allocation,'' Saini said at a briefing.
