Front seeks judicial probe into Punjab floods, blames BBMB
Mohali, November 7
The Lok-Raj Punjab has sought a judicial probe into the recent floods in Punjab due to alleged negligence on part of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
Activists of the front have also demanded that the control of Bhakhra and Pong dams, which are built on Punjab rivers, should be handed over to the state with immediate effect to avert such disasters.
The Lok-Raj Punjab held a token black flag protest and also appealed to the Punjabi diaspora in the country and abroad to join the agitation by hoisting black flags on their vehicles, abodes and establishments.
SS Boparai, IAS KC, former Secretary, Union Government and Kirti Kisan Forum chief, Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa, president of Lok Raj Punjab, and Er Harinder Singh Brar, former Chairman and Engineer in Chief, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), in a joint statement said mandatory safety rules and protocol of the management of dam were ignored by the BBMB, to bring down the level of water in dams before a cut date in end of May, to accommodate melting of ice in June-July, followed by rains in the catchment area.
They added that Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, who are sharing the rivers dam water, must also be made to proportionally share the cost of loss and damage from floods.