With IWT suspended, divert water to northern states: Punjab CM

Chandigarh, April 29 (IANS) Asserting that the BJP is playing a “dirty game” to release excess water to Haryana, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday said they will not allow it to succeed in its nefarious designs against the state.

He asked the Union government to divert waters of the Chenab, Jhelum, Ujh and other rivers to northern states to cater to the needs owing to the onset of the paddy season, with the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan.

The Chief Minister said Haryana and Rajasthan have been allotted the water share, adding that Haryana has already utilised its share of water in March this year, due to which they are now trying to grab some more water by robbing Punjab’s share.

Mann said Haryana has used 103 per cent of its allocated water, and now the BJP (in the Centre) is pressurising Punjab to release more water to Haryana.

The Chief Minister said, unfortunately, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) is being illegally used by the BJP to achieve this goal.

Mann said his predecessors used to extend such largesse to appease their mentors in the BJP, but as a custodian of the waters and of the state, he will never allow this.

He said Punjab has upgraded its canal water system, due to which now it requires water to cater to the needs of the farmers of the state in the wake of the ensuing paddy season.

The Chief Minister categorically said Punjab doesn’t have even a single drop of water to share with the other states. He said the state has already given 4,000 cusec of water to Haryana on humanitarian grounds so as to fulfil their drinking water needs.

Mann said the situation of water is already dismal in state, and water in the Ranjit Singh Dam and the Pong Dam is already 39 feet and 24 feet, respectively, low as compared to the one recorded last year at the same time.

The Chief Minister said there is no question of succumbing to the pressure on this issue as it is concerned with the farmers of the state.

He reiterated 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 much hyped Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan.

“Instead of pressuring us illegally, the Haryana government should have used their share of water judiciously,” he said.

He said the BJP should refrain from politicising this issue as water is a necessity for the state and its farmers.

Mann said Punjab contributes 185 metric tons of paddy to the national food pool, and it will not bow before such tantrums of the BJP.

The Chief Minister reiterated that the state has no spare water to share with any other state, adding, even a single drop of water will not be given to anyone.

He said most of the blocks of the state are over-exploited, and the groundwater situation in the state is very grim. Likewise, Mann said as most of the river resources of the state have dried up, it needs more water to cater to its irrigation needs.

Picture Courtesy: IANS