Take on
Summary AI is born, the news room has been reviewed.
Haryana CM Saini urged Punjab to provide tension between drinking water.
He warned that in the absence of adequate storage, additional water could flow in Pakistan.
Saini claimed that Haryana has not received a share of its entire water this year.
New Delhi:
Haryana has appealed to neighboring Punjab to provide drinking water to them or the additional Bhakra reservoir water will flow into Pakistan. The statement came at a time when India suspended the Indus Water Treaty with the Pahgam terror attack with Pakistan in which 26 tourists were killed.
Prior to the monsoon, Shri Saini pressured one of the largest dams under the now-fake treaty, the need to vacate the Bhakra reservoir. “It is necessary to empty the Bhakra Dam water reservoir before June so that rainwater can be stored during the monsoon. If there is no space left in the water reservoir, the extra water will go to Pakistan through Hari-K Pattan, which is neither in the interest of Punjab nor the nation,” he said.
As the row of water-sharing between Punjab and Haryana has increased, Mr. Saini warned that the supply of drinking water in Delhi will also be affected. “As long as there was an Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, the Maan government in Punjab had no objection to the water going to Delhi. Now there is no Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, Mann is making such statements to punish the people of Delhi?” He said.
On the claim of Punjab that Haryana finished its part of its water in March, Mr. Saini actually said, “We have not got our entire share”. He further clarified that last month, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had issued water issued to Haryana, 500 cusecs for drinking water of Delhi, 800 cusecs for Rajasthan, and 400 Cusecs for Punjab. “Thus, the actual amount of water obtained by Haryana remains only 6,800 cusecs,” he said.
“If the BBMB was to provide the remaining water as per Haryana’s demand, then it was only 0.0001 percent of the water stored in the Bhakhara dam, a figure would be so small that it would not have any effect on storage,” Mr. Saini said.
On his behalf, Mr. Mann, through BBMB, accused the Punjab government of pressurizing the BJP to meet the Haryana demand and said that the neighboring state has already used 103 percent of its allotted water stake in March.
He also asked the center to bend the water of Chenab, Jhelum, Uj and other rivers due to the beginning of the paddy season, with suspension of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan. Mr. Saini said that her counterpart “seems to be in April-May, paddy is not cultivated in Punjab and Haryana. In these two months, the water issued by BBMB is only for the purpose of drinking.”
In addition to Bhak, Pong reservoir, one of the dams from where Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan meet their water requirements are part of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan. The treaty was suspended a day after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 civilians.
Punjab and Haryana Sutlees-Yamuna Link (SEL) have been in the Loggerheads on the construction of the canal, which will effectively allocate water from the Ravi and Beas rivers on completion. The project envisaged the 214 km canal, out of which 122 km was to be constructed in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana. Haryana has completed the project in its region, but Punjab, which started construction work in 1982, later gave it shelter.
Mr. Mann had said earlier this year that the Sil Canal will never be a reality and its government is duty-bound to protect the interests of Punjab, while it reiterates that the state has no water to share with others. Mr. Saini said that Sil is important for the state and alleged that the Punjab government has not made any progress in the matter.
