Halt move to create more BBMB posts, Punjab CM Mann writes to Amit Shah

Terming the Centre’s decision to appoint two new members in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) from Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh as “incremental federal erosion”, the Punjab Government has now sought intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the matter. The issue will also be raised at the meeting of North Zone Council, scheduled for November 17.

Last month, the Union Ministry of Power had sought comments from the four partner states of the board, on its proposal to increase the number of whole-time members from two at present (one each from Punjab and Haryana) to four.

In a letter, written to all four member states of the BBMB, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, on October 10, the BBMB desk at the Union Ministry of Power had said that based on the references/request received from Rajasthan and Himachal for increasing the number of whole-time members, the ministry had proposed amendments to Section 79(2)(a) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, to increase members.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has now written a letter to Shah, wherein he has asked him to “advise the Ministry of Power not to create additional posts of the whole-time members. “Further, the ministry may fill the vacant posts of members following the earlier arrangement under which one member got appointed from Punjab and another from Haryana,” he has said.

Drawing attention to Section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, Mann said there couldn’t be more than two whole-time members of the board. “Not only this, Punjab has already challenged the constitutional vires of Sections 78 and 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, in the Supreme Court by way of civil suit No. 2 of 2007, which is still pending for decision,” he said.

State’s objection

The Punjab Reorganisation Act, initially created the “Bhakra Management Board”, focusing on managing the existing Bhakra-Nangal project

Through an amendment to the Act in 1976, the Beas project was brought under the same system and the board was renamed “Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB)”

Punjab has been objecting to grant of equal representation to Rajasthan and Himachal, saying their share was 58% and they bore the maximum expense of the board