Centre, Haryana trying to loot water from Punjab: Cheema in special assembly session

Punjab finance minister Harpal Cheema on Monday accused the central and Haryana governments of trying to loot water from his state, while leader of opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa backed the Aam Aadmi Party government, saying “the state’s waters won’t be given to anyone else”.

They were speaking at the one-day special session of the assembly, convened by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, to address the contentious issue of water-sharing with Haryana, following the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) decision to release an additional 8,500 cusecs of water to the neighbouring state. The House aims to pass a resolution safeguarding Punjab’s water rights amid unified opposition to the BBMB order from all parties in the state.

In his speech, Cheema said, “Water is a huge necessity for Punjab. We have given more than their share of water to Haryana. Both the Haryana and central governments want to loot water from Punjab. Our AAP government will never let this happen. We are not doing politics.”

Congress MLA Bajwa reiterated his party’s stance, saying, “The Congress has always been pro-Punjab and stands with the people of Punjab. Punjab waters will not be given to anyone else under any circumstance. We want the state government to take such a stand to secure our future.”

Punjab water resources minister and Lehra MLA Barinder Kumar Goyal said, “The point is not how much water is in the dam but how much each state shares. Water is allocated based on the decision of the BBMB. We will work according to the law to protect our rights.”

Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar, who was formerly with the Congress, highlighted concerns about water quality within Punjab, saying, “All parties have agreed that Punjab does not have much water, but there is also an issue that people are not getting clean water.”

Belated action, says Khaira

Bholath Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira criticised the AAP government for its delayed response, pointing to the Dam Safety Act, 2021, which centralises the rights and control of the dams in any state. “We believe this is a belated action of the Aam Aadmi Party because when the Dam Safety Act was passed in 2021 in the Lok Sabha, Bhagwant Mann was a parliamentarian at the time, but he did not say anything. This 2021 Act has centralised all our rights and control,” Khaira said.

The special session follows an all-party meeting on May 2 that was chaired by chief minister Mann amid escalating concerns over the state’s water rights. During the meeting, all parties expressed solidarity against the BBMB decision to release an additional 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana and noted that the Punjabis had the right to every drop of Punjab water and no one would be allowed to take it away.

On April 30, the BBMB ordered the additional water to be released to Haryana from the Bhakra-Nangal dam. However, the Punjab government rejected the BBMB decisions, raising concerns over decreasing water levels in key reservoirs.