Indian PM Visits Panjab, Offers Paltry Amount; Haryana Refuses Water from Dams

On 9 Sep, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Panjab and offered a relief package of USD 181M when the preliminary damages are estimated at USD 2.27B. Earlier on 5 Sep, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann did a mock photo shoot of sitting on a road and eating. Meanwhile, in a twist in the long-standing water dispute between Haryana and Panjab, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Nayab Singh Saini-led Haryana government has urged the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and the Panjab government to slash 2.5K cusecs of its canal water supply, citing Haryana’s reduced demand due to incessant rains. The Panjab government has objected to Haryana opening sluice gates of the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal at the Jansui headworks in Ambala district after farmers complained it led to flooding in the Tangri rivulet. On 29 Aug, BJP’s Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu said had Mann not adopted confrontational politics in April and denied water to Haryana, the Bhakra Dam water level would have reduced. While this is borne out to some extent by data, it does not absolve BBMB from not releasing more water from Jun to mid Aug. On 4 Sep, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited flood-hit areas in Panjab and blamed illegal mining for the floods. Panjab Cabinet Minister and AAP state chief Aman Arora slammed Chouhan for blaming illegal mining and alleged BJP leaders visit flood-hit areas for photo-ops which is true for others too. On 3 Sep, Indian National Congress’ former Panjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi joined efforts to strengthen embankments. However, on 7 Sep, when Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee incharge Bhupesh Baghel visited the Harike barrage with INC state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, they blocked the road on top of the barrage. On both sides a huge number of vehicles bringing in relief to the flood hit were stranded for hours. Given how the union government has treated Panjab floods until now, the need is that Members of Parliament of all parties join hands and place their demands to the union government (earlier coverage).