BBMB water release order to Haryana sparks controversy; 2 officers transferred
A day after the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) ordered that 8,500 cusecs of water be released to Haryana from the Bhakra dam, the Director of Water Regulation at Nangal, Akashdeep Singh (who is from Punjab), has been transferred out.
He has been replaced by the Haryana cadre Director, Sanjeev Kumar, who has now been given the charge of Water Regulation.
With this move, the BBMB is hopeful of implementing its decision of releasing additional water to Haryana, which the Punjab government has been objecting to.
Sources say that, probably on the instructions of the Punjab government, Akashdeep Singh had been insisting that he would release water to Haryana only upon receipt of an indent for the release of water from Punjab, as specified in the Regulation Manual.
Interestingly, the transfer orders of the two officers who have swapped places mention that the transfer is being made at the request of Akashdeep Singh. The latter has now also sent a letter to BBMB denying having made any such request.
Even as the Punjab government has started exploring its legal options, the Chief Engineer of Punjab has written a letter to BBMB stating that the newly posted Director of Water Regulation, Sanjeev Kumar, has experience only in dam safety and has no experience in water regulation. The state government has demanded that this transfer be revoked immediately.
Aam Aadmi Party protests
Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party has, meanwhile, announced state-wide protests against the decision of BBMB.
Later in the day, as the AAP led the protests, BBMB also transferred the Secretary of the Board, Surinder Singh Mittal, who hails from Haryana.
The Punjab government officials had alleged that he played a pivotal role on the issue of giving extra water to Haryana.
BBMB has now given Rajasthan engineer Balbir Singh the additional charge of Director (Security) as well as Secretary of BBMB. Similarly, Punjab engineer Rajiv Saini has been appointed OSD (Technical) to BBMB Chairman.
Security has been intensified in Nangal. While Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains has reached the dam, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is expected to visit in sometime.
