Punjab’s AAP govt triggers domestic water war as Punjab Police takes over Nangal Dam, BBMB calls it unconstitutional and illegal
The ongoing water war between AAP-ruled Punjab and the BJP-ruled Haryana further escalated after the Punjab government claimed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that Haryana had overdrawn its quota and was now seeking water for irrigation under the pretext of drinking needs.
The Aam Aadmi Party made this claim before the court on Monday (5th May) during the hearing on a plea filed by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). This plea sought the court’s intervention against the Punjab government’s obstruction of the release of water to Haryana.
In its plea, the Bhakra Beas Management Board argued that on 1st May, Punjab deployed police personnel to take control of the Nangal Dam and Lohand Control Room Water Regulation Offices. This resulted in the obstruction of the release of 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana as decided in the board meetings. BBMB’s lawyer Rajesh Garg called Punjab’s action “unconstitutional and illegal”. The senior counsel further alleged that the AAP government’s actions infringed on BBMB’s statutory authority under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
The BBMB’s legal representative added that upon confrontation over the takeover of the Nangal Dam and Lohand Control Room Water Regulation Offices, the Punjab government sent a letter to BBMB on 5th May saying that police personnel have been deployed in view of escalating tensions with Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack.
As per the BBMB, in view of the shortage of drinking water in Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, a Technical Committee meeting was held on 23rd April to decide on increasing water allocation. This involved reallocation of 500 cusecs for Rajasthan and 496 cusecs for Delhi. However, Punjab refused to comply beyond its voluntary offer of 4,000 cusecs. The AAP government in Punjab cited Haryana’s alleged overuse and mismanagement of its water share.
The issue emerged after the Bhakra Beas Management Board decided to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana from the Bhakra Dam. This triggered protests by AAP and a war of words between the two state governments.
AAP argues that Haryana has already received its share of water from the dam, and Punjab should get all the water. Notably, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi are partnering states that meet their water requirements from Bhakra and Pong dams managed by the BBMB. The board decides the annual quota of water supply to the three states for a cycle from May 21 to May 21 every year. Water purification systemsPakistan travel packages.
As reported earlier, after the meeting, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini called Bhagwant Singh Mann, saying Haryana needs additional water. But Mann refused, saying Punjab is already facing a water crisis, and it did not have a drop to spare. Soon after, the Punjab government decided to escalate the matter and refused to release water to Haryana from the dam. The government also ordered increased security at the Nangal dam.
In a significant comment, CM Saini said that if the Punjab government keeps capping water released from the dam at 4,000 cusec, excess water will overflow during monsoon and reach Pakistan. He said that the Bhakra dam reservoir has to be emptied before monsoon so that excess water accumulated during monsoon can be stored in the reservoir.
He said, “It is necessary to empty the Bhakra Dam water reservoir before June so that rainwater can be stored during the monsoon. If there is no space left in the water reservoir, excess water will go to Pakistan via Hari-ke-Pattan, which is neither in the interest of Punjab nor the nation.”
Notably, if Saini’s warning becomes true, it will nullify the impact of the Government of India stopping the flow of water to Pakistan. Because the flow can be stopped only by dams. But if the water overflows the dams because of filled-up reservoirs, then the water can’t be stopped from flowing downstream and reaching Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has sharpened his attacks on BBMB. Calling the Board a ‘white elephant’ while addressing the state assembly, CM Mann said, “The Bhakra Beas Management Board has become a white elephant, the entire expense of which is borne by the Punjab Government. We strongly oppose this. It should be restructured. On the basis of humanity, we are already providing Haryana with an additional 4000 cusecs of water. But instead of thanking us for this, they called an overnight BBMB meeting, changed the chairman, and demanded an additional 8500 cusecs of water.”
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