Centre calls meeting of BBMB partner states as Punjab refuses water to Haryana

As the Punjab Government on Thursday refused to release additional water to Haryana from the Bhakra dam, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan convened an emergency meeting of the Chief Secretaries of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) partner states in Delhi at 11 am on Friday.

Amid fast-paced developments in the escalating water-sharing dispute, the Bhagwant Mann government also called an all-party meeting on Friday and a special session of the Vidhan Sabha on Monday. Top officials said the government was exploring legal options as well.

At the Delhi meeting, which has been called by the Union Ministry of Power, Punjab will be represented by Home Secretary Alok Shekhar and Principal Secretary (Water Resources) Krishan Kumar. The Secretary of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the BBMB Chairman will also be present.

Amid emotive overtones all day through, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party leaders led protests across Punjab. The crisis was triggered by a decision taken by the BBMB late last night to allocate an additional 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana. The Punjab Government claimed the neighbouring state had “already drawn its share of 2.987 MAF from the Bhakra dam for the September 21-May 20 period”.

The Haryana Government, on the other hand, maintained that for the past several years, the state had been receiving water over and above its allocated share. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said they needed water for drinking purpose as several places in Haryana, including Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa, were facing an acute water crisis. Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, however, said farmers in his home state too were facing a shortage of water, with 115 of 153 blocks having overexploited their groundwater limit.

“We need canal water for irrigation. The role played by Haryana’s former CM and Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in securing additional water for Haryana reeks of a bias. He should consider the interests of the entire nation rather than advocating solely for Haryana,” said Goyal.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann called all parties to unite and fight for the interests of the state. The Friday meeting invite was also sent to Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar. Earlier in the day, he and Education Minister Harjot Bains rushed to Nangal to assess the situation. “The BBMB cannot dictate terms to us. We have a 60 per cent share in BBMB assets. The decision for more water was taken through deceit, which we have refused to accept. Haryana has already utilised 16,000 cusecs of additional water over and above its share. On humanitarian grounds, we allotted them 4,000 cusecs more on April 4. Now, they want more. BJP-ruled Rajasthan and Haryana colluded to rob Punjab of its water and the BBMB illegally decided to release 8,500 cusecs,” he said. Interestingly, several farmer unions also said they would protest any move to allocate additional water to Haryana.

While the BBMB had last night ordered Punjab to immediately release more water, the Punjab Government, which places indent for the release of water to the Director of Water Regulation, refused to do so, citing the regulation manual of the Bhakra dam, said sources. Till last night, Punjab-cadre officer Akashdeep Singh was posted as the Director of Water Regulation. Probably anticipating that he would follow the orders of his own state government, the BBMB replaced him with Haryana-cadre officer Sanjeev Kumar, the sources said. Punjab objected to the transfer and wrote to the BBMB that the Haryana officer didn’t have the required experience.

Following AAP-led protests today, the BBMB transferred its Secretary Surinder Mittal, who hails from Haryana. He was replaced with Rajasthan-cadre officer Balbir Singh while Punjab-cadre officer Rajiv Saini was appointed as the OSD (Technical).

Though the BBMB replaced the Punjab-cadre Director of Water Regulation with the Haryana-cadre officer, water could not be released because of a technical glitch. Sanjeev Kumar had to give his joining report to Chief Engineer Charanpreet Singh in Nangal. He, however, joined at the BBMB office in Chandigarh. On this ground, Charanpreet refused to abide by his orders to release water and he also did not relieve Akashdeep.

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