Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann calls BBMB ‘useless’, says won’t accept its orders

Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday termed the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) “useless” and told the state Assembly that Punjab would no longer accept its decisions over the distribution of Sutlej and Beas waters.

The CM said this after Cabinet minister Barinder Kumar Goyal moved a resolution against the BBMB order allocating additional water from the Bhakra Dam to Haryana.

The CM said both rivers belonged to Punjab as these flowed through the state, making these entirely the “rightful property of Punjab”.

Mann said Haryana and Rajasthan had no direct connection with these rivers.

However, the Chief Minister said Punjab’s waters had been diverted to other states by the BBMB for years.

“Now, the BJP government (at the Centre) has started using this board for its political interests,” Mann said.

The CM alleged that meetings were being called by the board “at midnight” without consulting Punjab and under pressure from other states.

‘Rightful share being taken away from Punjab’

“Punjab’s rightful share is being taken away,” he alleged. The Chief Minister described the BBMB as a “white elephant” and demanded its reconstitution.

He said it was “totally useless and unacceptable” in its present form, adding that Punjab would “never accept it now”. Mann said it was ironic that employees of other states deputed in the BBMB were being paid from state exchequer while they harmed interests of Punjab.

He said over the past three years, his government had made efforts to supply canal water to every farm in Punjab due to which a massive network of canals and sub-canals had been developed.

Till 2021, only 22 per cent of Punjab’s farmland received canal water, he said, adding that today nearly 60 per cent of the state’s farmland was being irrigated through the canals.

He said Punjab no longer had surplus water to share with any state.

“Haryana has a population of 3 crore, and for all human needs including drinking, only 1,700 cusecs of water is required. Still, they asked for 4,000 cusecs, and we gave it on humanitarian grounds,” the CM said.

“Now, Haryana is demanding 8,500 cusecs, which Punjab simply can’t give,” he said, adding that Punjab would take all legal and constitutional steps necessary to protect its rightful share of water.

Haryana Tribune