Chandigarh: A fresh row has erupted between Punjab and Haryana over the river waters distribution at a time when India and Pakistan are at loggerheads over Indus-Waters Treaty post-April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 tourists were killed.
It may be recalled that Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann had on Tuesday accused BJP of what he termed as pressurising Punjab to release excess water to Haryana, and held that Punjab will not allow the saffron party to succeed in its nefarious designs against the state.
Stating that Haryana and Rajasthan are allotted share in water of state from a cycle of May 21 to May 21 every year, he said that Haryana has utilised all the water in its share in the month of March this year due to which it is now trying to grab some more water from Punjab.
The chief minister said that ``unfortunately Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) is being illegally used by the BJP to achieve this goal’’; Punjab doesn’t have even a single drop of water to share with the other states, he said that already the state has given 4,000 cusec of water to Haryana.
He said that instead of playing these unlawful games the Union government should divert the waters of Chenab, Jhelum, Ujh and other rivers to the state after cancelling the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and the surplus water saved from this treaty can be supplied to the entire northern region.
MANN TWISTING FACTS
Rebuking Mann’s stance, the Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini pointed out the contradiction in the former’s statement in which he is accusing previous Punjab governments of failing to maintain data. ``It seems that Bhawgant Mann conveniently ignored the fact that during the years 2022, 2023, and 2024, Haryana consistently received no less than 9,000 cusecs of water at the contact point during the months of April, May, and June.
Saini further clarified that the water released by BBMB at the contact point includes 500 cusecs for Delhi's drinking water, 800 cusecs for Rajasthan, and 400 cusecs for Punjab itself. Thus, the actual quantity of water received by Haryana remains only 6,800 cusecs, he said and added that, now that AAP has lost the Delhi elections, Mann is making such statements to punish the people of Delhi.
MANN TRYING TO DIVIDE PUNJAB, HARYANA
Meanwhile, Punjab BJP leader and Union minister Ravneet Bittu also took to X to attack Mann: ``When the nation stands united against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, CM Bhagwant Mann chooses to divide states over water. Not a single drop of Punjab’s water will be given away — but this is no time for political posturing’’, he said.
For record, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan get their water share from Bhakra and Pong dams managed by BBMB which decides the annual quota for the trio states from May 21, every year; the fresh row on the water sharing comes alongside the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, which has already been brewing between Punjab and Haryana for the past several decades.
