Ravi-Beas Waters Tribunal to meet Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar today

The Ravi-Beas Waters Tribunal, constituted to adjudicate the sharing of the Ravi and Beas waters among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, will hold a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar on Sunday night.

The Tribunal, headed by Justice Vineet Saran (retired), reached Amritsar for a two-day visit to the state on Saturday evening, where they are bringing hosted by the state Water Resources department.

According to information available with The Tribune, the three-member team of the Tribunal will visit Harike headworks on Sunday. The Punjab government also intends to show them the Ballewal headworks (a vital hydraulic structure) of the Luther Canal in Ferozepur.

The water from the leather industry of Kasur in Pakistan flows into the Sutlej, due to which the Ferozepur region is facing the brunt of severely polluted water. The Punjab government team will show them the border areas there affected by the polluted water from Kasur. The Water Tribunal is expected to assess the river water availability situation. The tribunal will see the total water inflows and outflows, and its usage.

The Punjab government will also place before the tribunal details of the shortage of canal water in the border belt of the state. The tribunal will also visit Hussainiwala and after the end of the Punjab visit, the tribunal will start its visit to Rajasthan.

The Punjab government is expected to insist before the tribunal that the water distribution should be done afresh. In 1981, there was 17.17 MAF of water in the Ravi-Beas, which has reduced to 13 MAF in 2021.