Mann demands Yamuna share, flags BBMB ‘bias’

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday reiterated the demand for a share in the Yamuna waters, saying the state didn’t have surplus water to give to neighbouring Haryana. He also accused the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) of bias in releasing water to Haryana.

CM Mann, during his intervention at Niti Aayog’s Governing Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also sought a grant of Rs 2,829 crore to tackle the drug trafficking problem and bolster border security. The funds would be utilised towards upgrading infrastructure, jail security and de-addiction centres, Mann said while citing 53,000 arrests and 3,579 kg seizure of heroin in the state.

The CM urged the Centre to install 50 additional jamming systems to counter drones along the 553-km border that the state shares with Pakistan. He sought infrastructure grants for border resilience so as to ensure a comprehensive development of six border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Pathankot.

Elaborating on the vexed water sharing issue, Mann pointed out that in the wake of the grim water situation in the state, the Centre should consider the construction of a Yamuna-Sutlej Link (YSL) canal, instead of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

Mann added that the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej were already water deficit, therefore the diversion should be made from surplus to deficit basins. Punjab had repeatedly sought its inclusion in the negotiations for the allocation of the Yamuna waters, as a pact for the YSL project was signed between erstwhile Punjab and Uttar Pradesh on March 12, 1954, which entitled erstwhile Punjab to two-thirds of the Yamuna waters.

Mann said the agreement did not specify any particular area to be irrigated by the Yamuna waters, adding that before the re-organisation, the Yamuna, like the Ravi and Beas, flowed through the erstwhile state of Punjab. However, he bemoaned that while apportioning the river waters between Punjab and Haryana, the Yamuna waters were not considered, whereas the waters of the Ravi and Beas were duly taken into account.

Citing the 1972 report by the Irrigation Commission, constituted by the Government of India, Mann said it clearly stated that Punjab (post-1966, after its reorganisation) fell within the Yamuna River Basin. Therefore, he said, if Haryana had a claim over the Ravi and Beas waters, Punjab should also have an equal claim on the Yamuna waters.

Mann raised the BBMB issue saying it was constituted under the provisions of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, with the mandate to regulate the supply of water and power from the Bhakra, Nangal and Beas projects to the partner states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.In the past Punjab, had been liberal in sharing water with the partner states to meet their drinking water and other genuine requirements even as the state relied upon its own groundwater reserves to meet its demands, particularly for the paddy crop, he said.

As a result, the groundwater level had depleted to a huge extent, so much so that 115 of the 153 blocks in Punjab had been over-exploited — this is the highest percentage amongst all states in the country.

With an upgraded canal structure, Punjab was unable to meet its requirements even with its share of the river waters, Mann asserted.

Despite requests, he said, the BBMB failed to advise other partner states to regulate the release of water to Haryana, as a result which it exhausted its share by March 30, 2025. Punjab, on humanitarian grounds, released 4,000 cusecs out of its own share to Haryana to meet its drinking water needs, even though it only had a genuine demand of 1,700 cusecs. However, Mann pointed out, the BBMB ignored Punjab’s interest and decided to release 8,500 cusecs to Haryana despite their objections.

This, he said, was against the spirit and provisions of the law as the BBMB had taken the decision against the consent of Punjab. The BBMB should be advised to restrain itself and act as per the provisions of law.

On the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Bhakra and Nangal dams, the CM said that security at the dams had been the sole responsibility of the states concerned since their construction. The Ministry of Power’s decision to depute the CISF was “unnecessary” and “completely avoidable”, said Mann as he sought PM’s intervention.

He further sought the immediate release of outstanding arrears under the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Caste students for academic sessions 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

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