More Bhakra water for Hry, Punjab fumes

The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has decided to release 8,500 cusec water to Haryana from the Bhakra Dam with immediate effect. The decision was taken at a marathon meeting of the technical panel of the board this evening, presided over by BBMB Chairman Manoj Tripathi.

Although the Punjab Government objected to the decision, stating there was no surplus water to spare for Haryana, it found itself cornered as the three BJP-ruled partner states in the BBMB (Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi) reportedly joined hands to press for the demand. Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, the other partner state, remained neutral. Anurag Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary of the Water Resources Department, led the Haryana delegation at the meeting.

Sources in the BBMB said the additional water was being released to Haryana on “humanitarian grounds" to meet its drinking water and domestic needs. Haryana has been claiming a severe water shortage, particularly in Hisar, Sirsa, and Fatehabad districts.

Punjab, however, argued that the water level in the Pong Dam and Ranjit Sagar Dam was below average. Officials from the Punjab Government reportedly stated at the meeting that the water level in the Pong Dam was 31.87 per cent lower than last year, while the Ranjit Sagar Dam saw a 16.90 per cent dip. Even in the Bhakra Dam, the water level was over 10 per cent lower compared to last year. They warned that releasing additional water to Haryana would reduce Bhakra’s water level by 15 ft before the monsoon arrives. With maintenance work ongoing at the Pong Dam, Punjab would have to rely more on Bhakra Dam water or extract additional groundwater to meet demand during the paddy season, they said.

Punjab officials, led by Principal Secretary Krishan Kumar, also raised concerns that the Bhakra Dam regulation manual required Punjab to first place an indent to Bhakra Dam officials for releasing additional water. In response, the officials decided to waive this provision as a special exception this time.

Earlier in the day, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann accused the BJP of conspiring to divert Punjab’s waters by misusing its power in Haryana and at the Centre. In a letter to Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, Mann stated that he had received Saini’s letter only through the media. Mann was responding to a letter sent to him by Saini earlier this week, demanding 8,500 cusec water from the Bhakra Dam. He refuted claims that he had assured additional water release.

Mann asserted that Haryana had already received more water than its allocated share for the depletion period ending May 20 and that Punjab had no surplus water to spare. He noted that this year, the BBMB had distributed 3.318 MAF, 2.987 MAF, and 5.512 MAF water to Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, respectively. The crisis arose, he said, because the BJP government in Haryana had exhausted its entire water share by March 31 this year.

Punjab