State Assembly to discuss river waters issue today

Political parties in Punjab are likely to showcase a rare unity for “safeguarding the rights of the state over its river waters” at the Special Vidhan Sabha session scheduled for Monday.

The state’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is also expected to table a resolution in the House, rejecting the April 30 Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) order to release 4,500 cusecs of additional water to Haryana from the Bhakra Dam.

This was over and above 4,000 cusecs of additional water that the state was already releasing to Haryana since April 4. The additional water is being given after Haryana exhausted its share for the September-May depletion period.

History to be ‘revisited’

The entire history of the division of the state’s river waters after the Partition of India in 1947 — the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan and the Reorganisation Act of 1966 — is expected to be revisited in the House.

The resolution is likely to be centred around the fact that Punjab is itself facing a shortage of water while non-riparian states such as Haryana and Rajasthan — from where the Beas and Sutlej don’t flow — getting a share in the river waters.

Currently, 75 per cent of the blocks in Punjab remain over-exploited due to groundwater extraction.

The issue of the state’s 60 per cent stake in the BBMB, especially in the appointment of officers, being slowly diluted is also likely to be taken up.

‘Can’t be coerced’

Punjab AAP president Aman Arora said the government would fight to safeguard the state’s waters. “No one can arm twist us to rob the state of its rightful claim on its river waters,” he said.

The AAP’s target, it is learnt, will also be on the role played by each government in the past on the emotive issue.

Congress MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, who represented his party in the all-party meeting on the issue on Friday, said their party stands for safeguarding the rights of Punjab on its river waters.

“We are not supporting any party but standing in favour of the state, its resources and all Punjabis,” he said. Provisions of Dam Safety Act, 2021, also expected to be discussed.

‘Stood for state’s rights’

BJP legislator Ashwani Sharma told The Tribune that their Punjab unit always stood in favour of the state’s rights over its waters, especially now when the state is facing water shortage.

“In 2016, the BJP was part of the state government, when the ownership rights of land acquired for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, were vested back to the landowners,” he said.

“While we stand for Punjab’s rights, our only objection is the timing of this dispute. Why rake up the issue now for political gains, when the country is facing a crisis in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack,” he said. SAD MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali said he would also like to speak on the role played by each party in the past on the issue.