Punjab has no water, why can’t Yamuna water be diverted to Haryana: Bhagwant Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said the Union government had agreed to defer as many as 11 Punjab-related sticking agenda items that were part of the deliberations during the meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Faridabad on Monday.

Mann said that of the 28 items that were up for discussion at the meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, 11 were related to Punjab, and most of them involved water-sharing between states.

Mann said Shah had ordered a status quo on most of the items related to Punjab and referred the issue pertaining to the ratios for staffing of Chandigarh administration and institutions to the standing committee of the Northern Zonal Council.

Mann said the Himachal government had raised a fresh claim, saying that as a successor state, it has a 7 per cent claim on the staffing in Chandigarh.

Noting that every state bordering Punjab was asking Punjab to concede something, he said no one was thinking about the interests of the border state.

“Everyone in the meeting described Punjab as the big brother. But everyone wanted something or the other from Punjab. My only refrain is that while the younger brothers prosper, the big brother should not be devastated,” Mann said, adding that he had strongly raised at the meeting several issues concerning Punjab and the interests of the state.

Among the issues, the CM said, he had flagged was the recent attempt by the Centre to reorganise the Panjab University syndicate, which was halted and withdrawn following a protest by students. The CM said the Centre would hopefully announce the PU Senate and Syndicate election schedule soon.

Other sticking issues on which the Punjab CM said he had put his foot down were: Haryana's demand for a share of water through the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal, the Rajasthan government’s fresh claim that the Harike and Ferozpur waterworks should be handed over to them, the appointment of members from Himachal and Rajasthan on the Bhakra Beas Management Board, and the lack of restoration of Punjab-Haryana staffing in Chandigarh administration in the ratio of 60:40.

“I had gone to the meeting yesterday to lay a claim of Punjab on Chandigarh, and I was surprised to see Himachal making a fresh demand that they had a 7% claim in the staffing in Chandigarh administration posts. While most matters related to Punjab have been deferred and a status quo ordered, the staffing issue has been sent to the standing committee where both Punjab and Haryana will put forth their views before a final decision can be taken,” said the chief minister.

The CM said that even the token amount that was announced by the Centre for flood relief in Punjab had not yet been paid.

“The Centre had promised to pay Rs 1,600 crore for flood relief, but that has not come yet. While Punjab, despite its many challenges, continues to fill the national food bowl and also guard the national borders, the state remains at the receiving end,” the chief minister lamented.

He said the long-term solution to the SYL issue was the diversion of the Chenab waters towards Punjab and downstream states now that the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan is in abeyance.

He added that the Centre had also been approached with a request to launch projects for desilting major reservoirs of Punjab, including Harike, Ranjit Sagar Dam and Bhakra Dam.

This desilting work would involve a cost of Rs 10,000 crore.

Mann also asked the Centre to review water-sharing agreements between states, keeping the realities of modern day in mind.

“When we have no water, how will we give it to Haryana? Why can’t Yamuna water be diverted to Haryana and the SYL converted to YSL (Yamuna Sutlej Link)?” asked Mann.