Haryana to get more water from Bhakra
Aman Sood
Tribune News Service
Patiala, April 6
Farmers and politicians are on toes against increasing the height of the Bhakra main line canal (BML) embankment near Khanauri in Sangrur by one-and-a-half feet by the Punjab Irrigation Department. The work will “ensure that Haryana gets more water for its tail-end villages”. Haryana will start getting 1,450 cusecs of water from May 1, instead of around 1,050 cusecs that it gets now.
The Haryana Government has already paid money for the work to the Punjab Irrigation Department, which is expected to complete the work before April 30.
Sources said the Haryana Government had already paid Rs 3.7 crore to the Punjab Government and it was expected to release another Rs 95 lakh to complete the work.
“The Barwala link canal, which was getting around 1,000 cusecs of water so far, will start getting 1,450 cusecs after the work is completed by the Irrigation Department on the canal that falls in Punjab but belongs to Haryana,” they said.
Farmer unions, including the Bharti Kisan Union, have raised the issue of Punjab officers trying to hastily complete the work that will allow more water to Haryana. They alleged efforts were on to pressure Punjab through the Union Government for the release of more water. “The Irrigation Department is not following all norms and we apprehend this will keep fields in Punjab dry as more water will go to Haryana,” they said.
Union members said soil was being brought from outside to level the area while many fields near the site could have benefited had the Irrigation Department waited for the wheat crop to be harvested as farmers could have levelled their fields and the department would have saved on soil cost.
A senior official confirmed that the work at the project site started a couple of months ago. “This will help the Haryana Irrigation Department to get its due share of 1,450 cusecs,” he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal have been repeatedly claiming that “Punjab will not allow a single drop of water to flow out of the state”. Even today, Sukhbir said at rally that any sacrifice would be small to keep that commitment. “Sar vadya ja sakda hai, par paani da ek vi boond nahi ditta ja sakda (we can sacrifice ourselves, but will not part with a single drop of water)”, he said.
People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal today questioned Sukhbir on the issue of raising of the embankment of the Bhakra canal by over a foot on a stretch of 7 km (up to Khanauri head). “This will allow additional water to Haryana. What has added to the mystery is the admission by officials working at the site that the raising of the embankment is being funded by Haryana,” he said. The Badal government was under pressure from the Centre to resolve the river water dispute with Haryana, he said.
Patiala division BML XEN IS Walia said the completion of work at the BML Khanauri would not mean that excess water would flow to Haryana. Only the legitimate share of water allotted by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) would get through, he added. “Haryana will get its 68.3 per cent share, while Rajasthan will get 6.83 per cent. Punjab will continue to get its 25.73 per cent of share. Though the work once completed will allow more water to Haryana, but it will be as per guidelines,” Walia told The Tribune. Moreover, strengthening the embankment would save many Punjab villages from flood threat, he added.
