'Punjab has no water to spare with any state', CM Bhagwant Mann tells Ravi-Beas tribunal

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said the state does not have a single drop of water to share with any other state.

Mann stated this before the Ravi Beas Water Tribunal set up for adjudicating river water disputes between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

At a meeting with the tribunal led by its chairman Justice Vineet Saran, members Justice P Naveen Rao and Justice Suman Shyam, and registrar Rita Chopra, the chief minister reiterated that the state has no spare water to share with any other state and there is no question of sharing even a single drop of water with anyone.

Punjab has no surplus water to share with any other state and reassessment of availability of water is required as per international norms, Mann said, according to an official statement.

He also urged the tribunal members, who are in Punjab for a site visit of the Ravi water system, to deliver justice to the people of the state.

Mann pointed out that Punjab's 76.5 per cent blocks (117 out of 153) are over exploited where the stage of ground water extraction is more than 100 per cent, whereas in Haryana only 61.5 per cent (88 out of 143) are over exploited.

As most of the river resources of the state have dried up, it needs more water to cater to its irrigation needs, Mann said.

However, Mann said the situation is so grim that Punjab only has scant water, which it is providing to its food growers.

In such a scenario, there is no question of sharing even a drop of water with any other state, Mann said.

The Punjab government has emphatically presented the issue of less availability of water on every platform, Mann said, adding that it is imperative to "protect the rights of our coming generations", the statement said.

"The Punjab government is duty-bound to ensure that the interests of the state and its people are safeguarded by all means, and no stone will be left unturned for it," Mann asserted.

The chief minister also apprised the tribunal that the Yamuna, like Ravi and Beas rivers, also flowed through the erstwhile state of Punjab before re-organisation, but while apportioning river waters between Punjab and Haryana, Yamuna waters were not considered, whereas Ravi and Beas waters were duly taken into account for the apportionment.

Mann said Punjab has been requesting for its association in the negotiations for allocation of Yamuna waters, but "our request has not been considered on the ground that no geographical area of Punjab falls in the Yamuna basin".

Haryana is not the basin state of Ravi and Beas rivers, but Punjab is forced to share waters of these rivers with Haryana, Mann said, adding that if Haryana gets Ravi-Beas waters being a successor state of Punjab, Yamuna waters should also be shared with Punjab being a successor state following the same analogy.

The Punjab government is making strenuous efforts to use canal water for irrigation purposes, the chief minister said.

When he assumed charge as chief minister, only 21 per cent canal water was being used in the state, Mann said.

"It is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that today, 84 per cent of canal water is being used for irrigation purposes," he said.

Due to strenuous efforts of the state government, the ground water level has started increasing and as per a report of the Union government, it has witnessed an upward enhancement of one metre, the chief minister said.