Release more water for Haryana, Centre advises Punjab at stakeholders’ meet

The Centre on Friday advised the Punjab Government to implement the decision of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release 4,500 cusecs of extra water from the Bhakra Dam to Haryana for the next eight days to meet its urgent water requirements.

Slams police deployment at dam

Punjab had rejected BBMB’s decision to supply 8,500 cusecs to Haryana, leading to a political standoff

The AAP govt in Punjab also ordered a heavy police presence at Bhakra dam

Union Home Secretary reportedly pulled up Punjab officials at a high-level meeting on water row

At a high-level meeting to resolve the water-sharing dispute between the two state, it was also agreed that during the filling period of the dams, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMP) will provide this excess water to Punjab to fulfil any additional requirements of the state.

The Centre, however, took serious note of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s decision to deploy police at the Bhakra Dam site.  Sources familiar with the developments said Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, while presiding over the meeting, expressed displeasure over the heavy police deployment at the dam site. He reportedly pulled up Punjab officials present at the meeting and emphasised that the issue should be resolved through dialogue.

The meeting was attended by top officials from all four partner states of the BBMB — Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan — as well as representatives of the BBMB.  The BBMB will now immediately convene a board meeting to finalise the modalities for releasing extra water to Haryana. The Home Ministry’s intervention came after Punjab refused to comply with the decision of a special BBMB board meeting held a few days earlier, where a majority vote reiterated that 8,500 cusecs of water would be released to Haryana.

Punjab, which has capped the allocation of Bhakra water to Haryana at 4,000 cusecs, had submitted a dissenting note against the board’s decision and declined to follow the directive.

CM Mann firmly rejected Haryana’s demand, stating that the neighbouring state has exhausted its quota for the current cycle and Punjab had no excess water to spare.

Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, however, dismissed Mann’s claims, asserting that Haryana had not yet received its full share.

India