Haryana not letting us tame Ghaggar: Govt

PATIALA: The tussle between Punjab and Haryana over water sharing just got more intense. With Punjab not willing to release water in the Hansi-Butana canal, the Haryana government was not letting the Punjab government canalise the Ghaggar near Khanauri that was located on the interstate border, said sources.

The Ghaggar breaches its bank in Moonak on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 15

The tussle between Punjab and Haryana over water sharing just got more intense. With Punjab not willing to release water in the Hansi-Butana canal, the Haryana government was not letting the Punjab government canalise the Ghaggar near Khanauri that was located on the interstate border, said sources. The Punjab government wants to complete the work to stop Ghaggar flooding its villages every monsoon.

Sources said the state government had gone out of its way to strengthen the embankment of the Bhakra Main Line (BML) Canal in Sangrur to ensure Haryana got 1,450 cusecs instead of 1,050 cusecs starting May 1. The state government expected that the Haryana government would in return let it canalise 13 km of Ghaggar. However, Haryana has now reportedly backtracked. Sources said the Haryana Irrigation Department had not been letting Punjab government complete the work for the past two years. This resulted in crops on over 500 acres in 10 villages from Makraurh Sahib to Karhail getting inundated as Ghaggar breached its banks.

Haryana claims it is unable to get its legitimate share of 3.5 million-acre-foot (MAF) of Ravi-Beas water since the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal has not been built. At present, Haryana gets over 1.65 MAF water through the existing BML canal.

Haryana wants the BML be connected to the intra-state Hansi-Butana canal to draw part of its share of the Ravi-Beas waters. The canal was built in 2007 at a cost of Rs 400 crore, but it couldn’t be put to use. Punjab opposed it, saying it doesn’t have surplus water.

Bhem Sen Garg, Nagar Council Moonak, president, said, “The Irrigation Department completed the widening and canalising work on the 17 km stretch of Ghaggar in Punjab, but the remaining 13 km stretch is incomplete. He said they were told that Haryana was adamant at not allowing Punjab complete the work.”

“The government needs to take concrete measures to resolve the matter as more and more water has been flowing into our fields for the past two days,” said Moonak farmer Harmandeep Singh.

Kahan Singh Pannu, Secretary, Irrigation, Punjab, said the Haryana government was trying to settle scores with Punjab. “We have time and again taken up the matter with the Centre-appointed Ghaggar Standing Committee, but to no avail. ”

Punjab Irrigation Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said, “I have scheduled a meeting with the Haryana Irrigation Minister for next week. I will discuss the matter with him then.”