BBMB decision unconstitutional: Punjab farm bodies

The All-India Kisan Federation (AIKF), a constituent of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), on Thursday termed the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) decision to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana “unjustified, unconstitutional and anti-federal”.

The SKM is an umbrella body of farm unions that had led a year-long protest against the now-scrapped three central farm laws at the Delhi borders in 2020-21.

In a statement, AIKF president Prem Singh Bhangu and state committee member Kuldip Singh Grewal said Punjab, being a riparian state, held the first right over its river waters.

“With over 70% of Punjab’s agricultural land still unirrigated and underground water rapidly depleting, the state cannot afford to release even a drop to other states,” said the statement.

Citing Entry 17 of the State List in the Constitution, the AIKF leaders slammed the Centre and the BBMB for encroaching upon the Punjab’s rights.

They urged the state government to resist the “nefarious designs” to divert Punjab’s water resources.

Echoing similar sentiments, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Kadian) president Harmeet Singh Kadian took to social media platform X, calling the issue critical to Punjab’s economy.

He urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to convene an all-party meeting, along with consultations with farmer unions, to decide the next course of action.

Farmer organisations are reportedly preparing for agitation, demanding a complete review of past water-sharing agreements and a fresh scientific assessment of the state’s river water availability.