Panjab Assembly Guards Waters, But Resolutions Leave Much Desired

On 5 May, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Panjab conducted a special Legislative Assembly session to guard its rivers’ waters. The need arose from neighboring state Haryana demanding 8.5K cusecs extra water when the state has used 103% of its share of water and Panjab is still supplying them 4K cusecs of drinking water. Panjab objected and the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB)—which falls under the union govt.—replaced its Director of Water Regulation Panjab cadre Akashdeep Singh with Haryana cadre Sanjeev Kumar. BBMP called for a meeting with a day’s notice when its rules mandate seven days. In the Assembly, members of all parties vociferously defended Panjab’s rights and unanimously passed the resolutions: Panjab govt. will not give a single drop of extra water to Haryana from its share other than 4K cusecs currently being given as a humanitarian gesture; condemned the illegal and unconstitutional manner in which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the BBMB meeting; Panjab’s concerns and rights are ignored; therefore, BBMB must be restructured; invoked Riparian status on rivers Sutlej, Ravi, and Beas and asked why is their water diverted to other states? The 1981 agreement was based on river flow levels that are significantly lower today and called for a new agreement; and called for repeal of the Dam Safety Act, 2021. While the elected members patted themselves on saving Panjab’s waters, the fact is repealing the Dam Safety Act, 2021 for Panjab still needs the Governor’s approval. Ajaypal Singh Brar, from Misl Satluj points at other discrepancies, ‘Until when will Panjab supply 4K cusecs of water to Haryana? Why is no date mentioned? Why should BBMB be restructured and its dams not belong to Panjab?’ This is a demand from the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, 1973. He further adds, ‘When criticizing the 1981 agreement and stating rivers are Riparian to Panjab, why is a new agreement being proposed? Panjab has always maintained that its waters cannot be shared.’ Indian media has reported the resolutions as ‘not a drop’ to Haryana, completely ignoring Panjab’s humanitarian stand and other points.