Decades-old Punjab-Haryana water dispute escalates ahead of BBMB decision on water sharing

The decades-old water-sharing dispute between Punjab and Haryana has reignited into a full-blown crisis as both neighbours argue over the amount of water they can draw from the rivers—Sutlej and Beas.

The issue has been simmering since the formation of Haryana in 1966. It flared up when Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), the body managing the water management of the dams, allotted 4,500 cusecs of additional water to Haryana owing to its demands of meeting drinking water needs.

The Bhakra-Nangal project is located at the Sutlej River, with two dams in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. It caters to irrigation, hydropower generation, and drinking water requirements.

Punjab had cried foul saying it was beyond the limits agreed and would harm the interest of the agrarian state. Water is a politically sensitive issue for both states, particularly Punjab as it was one of the issues often raised by various political parties and the Sikh groups.

The situation came to such a pass recently that Punjab minister Harjot Singh Bains locked up the BBMB chairman from releasing extra water to Haryana.

During the technical committee meeting held on Thursday, Punjab accused Haryana of upping its “illegal” demand from already quoted 9,525 cusecs to 10,300 cusecs. This comes ahead of the day that BBMB decides on the water quota for each state every year—May 21

Punjab’s Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said Haryana had earlier asked for 8,500 cusecs and was already receiving 4,000 cusecs daily on “humanitarian” grounds since April.

Haryana argues that its several districts were facing acute drinking water shortages.

Earlier this month, both states had called all-party meetings to build political consensus around the water demands. Predictably, the matter had reached the courts. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had sought a response from Centre and Haryana over its demands to release 4,500 cusecs to Haryana based on directions from the Union home secretary.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been maintaining an aggressive stance citing the needs of his own state saying there was no surplus to spare. The Punjab government claims Haryana had already exhausted its full annual share by 31 March and that further demands are unjustified.

Haryana has also been demanding that the incomplete Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal, originally envisaged to connect these river systems to Haryana, be completed. The construction in Punjab was abandoned in the 1990s owing to militant threats and political opposition. In 1990, chief engineer M.L. Sekhri and a superintending engineer Avtar Singh Aulakh were killed by militants which led to the stopping of the work.

Though courts have ruled in favour of completing the SYL canal, it remains a politically sensitive issue in Punjab and the state government has been stalling it citing concerns over ecological impact and water availability.

Punjab also faces the crisis of overdrawing groundwater for water-guzzling crops like paddy. Mann also reiterated that Punjab does not have spare water to share with any other state and said his state needs more water to cater to the irrigation needs of the farming community.

Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini had said Punjab should release the extra water which otherwise would have gone to Pakistan.

Ironically, the water dispute between two neighbouring states escalated when the tensions with Pakistan increased after the Pahalgam attack. However, given the political sensitivities around the issue, both states may continue to be at loggerheads.