Won’t stop till drug menace fully wiped out: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said his government’s war against narcotics would continue till even an “ounce of drugs” was available in the state.

The Chief Minister made the remark reacting to media queries about a poster put up by irate residents of Bhai Bhaktaur village in Bathinda, declaring that their village was “up for sale”.

The villagers had put up the poster in protest against the drug trade in their area.

The Chief Minister had set a three-month deadline to eliminate the menace at the start of the “Yudh Nashian Virudh” campaign, which was launched on March 1.

However, Mann reaffirmed his commitment to the cause, saying no one involved in the crime was being spared.

Addressing mediapersons at his official residence here, he alleged that several ministers in previous regimes were involved in the drug trade.

“On the contrary, none of those from the current dispensation are involved in this atrocious crime,” he claimed.

Mann said even the black sheep among the law enforcing agencies were being identified and severest of severe action would be taken against them. Mann said several villages had been made drug-free under the drive against drugs.

Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said he was committed to the welfare of farmers, unlike farm unions who were seeking a debate with him over their issues.

He said paddy transplantation had already begun in the state and the Punjab Government made elaborate arrangements for it.

The Chief Minister also reiterated his government’s stance over the sharing of river waters with neighbouring Haryana. He said Punjab did not have spare water for the neighbouring state as most river resources of the state had “dried up”.

“Water-sharing agreements should be reviewed after every 25 years. Punjab is a landlocked border state, which has already over-explored its only available natural resource water and fertile soil to feed the country,” he said.

Mann also demand the reconstitution of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), alleging that 3,000 posts of Punjab’s quota had not been “deliberately filled” by the water regulatory body to “weaken the state’s claim over the river waters”.