Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren
Credit: PMO
New Delhi: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday brought Punjab's 'water war' with Haryana to the NITI Aayog Governing Council, saying Punjab has no surplus water to share and if Haryana has claim over the water in Ravi and Beas rivers, then his state should have an equal claim on Yamuna.
At the 10th Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog, the Punjab Chief Minister said its rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers are already in deficit and water should be diverted from surplus to deficit basins.
He said Yamuna river, like the Ravi and Beas, flowed through the erstwhile Punjab state but while apportioning the river waters between Punjab and Haryana, it was not considered while waters of Ravi and Beas were taken into account.
"If Haryana has a claim over the waters of Ravi and Beas rivers, Punjab should also have an equal claim on the Yamuna waters. These requests have been ignored adding that due to non-construction of storage structure on Yamuna River, water is going to waste," he said.
On the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) asking Punjab to release water to Haryana, he said the state has been very liberal in sharing water with the partner states while it was relying on its groundwater reserves to meet its demand for the paddy crop. As a result, he said the groundwater level has depleted to a huge extent, so much so that 115 blocks out of 153 blocks in Punjab are "over-exploited" when it comes to water.
"With the upgraded canal structure, Punjab itself is running short of its water requirement and even its water share in the river waters is not sufficient to meet these requirements. Despite our repeated request, the BBMB did not take any action to advise other partner states to regulate the release of water to Haryana and as a result which it exhausted its share by March 30," he said.
He also alleged that the BBMB ignored the interest of Punjab and decided to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana despite serious objections. Mann also opposed the deployment of CISF at Bhakra Nangal Dam.