All-party meet in Haryana asks Punjab govt to release water 'unconditionally'

CHANDIGARH: The stand-off between Punjab and Haryana over water sharing intensified on Saturday with an all-party meeting in Haryana asking the AAP government in the neighbouring state to allow the release of water from the Bhakra dam unconditionally.

This came a day after an all-party meeting in Punjab backed the state government's refusal to release more water to BJP-ruled Haryana.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, after chairing the all-party meeting on Saturday, hit out at the Punjab government, saying not following the Bhakra Beas Management Board's direction to release water was "unconstitutional, inhuman" and an attack on the federal structure of the Constitution.

"The all-party meeting decided that the Mann government should release water immediately and unconditionally," Saini said at a press conference flanked by leaders from various parties who attended the meet.

A resolution was passed at the meeting in which an appeal was made to the Punjab government that the decisions of Bhakra Beas Management Board's (BBMB) technical committee dated April 23 and another one on April 30 should be implemented forthwith unconditionally.

While vowing to protect the state's rights, Saini asserted that "our path is not of confrontation, but of cooperation" and urged the Bhagwant Mann government to "understand the pain of the neighbour".

"They should immediately remove the inhuman, unconstitutional, illegal and inappropriate bar on the release of water. We resolve to ensure it and the construction of the SYL canal. We are ready to fight any battle," Saini said.

"They have cut drinking water. All parties have expressed a strong reaction to this. All parties said they will work unitedly to protect state's interests, not just as Haryana political parties, but as Indians who have deep faith in federal structure and brotherhood, " said Saini and urged the people of both states to maintain peace.

Among the leaders present in the meeting were Haryana's Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Shruti Choudhry, Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana, Energy Minister Anil Vij, State BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli, Congress's Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state Congress chief Udai Bhan, JJP's Dushyant Chautala, INLD's Rampal Majra and AAP's Sushil Gupta.

The Bhagwant Mann government "is stopping Haryana's water in an unconstitutional manner. Mann has taken oath under the Constitution, but he is doing unconstitutional work," Saini alleged.

"This water belongs to the entire country... Water-sharing agreement is there between states. So, water does not belong to any one state. Even today the problem is not as big as is being projected by the Mann government," he said.

Haryana had been getting its full share of water even in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 when the water level of the dam was quite low, said Saini.

"Haryana never sought more than its share. BBMB, which is an independent body, has decided Haryana's quota, but the Mann government has refused to agree with it. This is not just injustice with Haryana, but a direct attack on India's federal structure by the Mann government," Saini said.

In a federal system, every state has the responsibility to respect the interests of neighbouring states, but this attitude of the Mann government is setting a "bad example", he said.

"If Mann's government remains adamant, then under the provisions in our Constitution, we will protect our rights. But we want to say that our path is not of confrontation, but of cooperation. We appeal to the Mann government that it should adopt the path of love and brotherhood with Haryana," he said.

Haryana wants to move shoulder-to-shoulder with Punjab, but for this, they also have to understand the pain of their neighbour. "To protect our country's federal structure is our collective responsibility," said Saini.

A fresh row had erupted over the issue of water sharing between the two neighbours, with the Punjab government refusing to release more water to the BJP-ruled Haryana.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had asserted that his government would not allow the release of more water to the neighbouring state, claiming it has already utilised 103 per cent of its allocated share.

Mann had said the Punjab government, as a humanitarian gesture, had already generously allotted 4,000 cusecs of water daily to Haryana since April 6.

He had also hit out at the BBMB for its decision to release extra water to Haryana, saying such "robbery" of Punjab's rights will not be tolerated and that the board has no right to "dictate" matters related to his state.

The BBMB regulates water distribution from Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams. Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are the partnering states that meet their water requirement for different purposes, including irrigation, from Bhakra and Pong dams.