Haryana opposition leaders slam Punjab CM Mann over water row

Chandigarh, Apr 30 (PTI) Haryana opposition leaders on Wednesday slammed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann after he refused to release more water, with INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala threatening to block all routes from Punjab passing through Haryana.
    Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who accused the Mann government of reducing the supply of water to Haryana, a BJP-ruled state, from 8,500 cusecs to 4,000 cusecs, demanded that the Nayab Saini government should call an all-party meeting and special session of the assembly on the issue of water sharing.
    Another senior Congress leader, Randeep Singh Surjewala, demanded from the BJP government that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should call a meeting of the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana within the next 24 hours, in which the Power and Irrigation Minister of the Centre should also be invited.
    "The Prime Minister should get Haryana's rightful share of 8,500 cusecs of water from BBMB. Prime Minister Modi should give clear instructions to Bhagwant Mann and the Punjab government that they should not create any obstruction in giving Haryana's water. If needed, the Government of India should issue necessary instructions under Article 257 of the Constitution," Surjewala said.
    Mann on Tuesday refused the release of more water to Haryana, stating that the neighbouring state has already utilised 103 per cent of its allocated share. He also accused the BJP of exerting pressure on the Punjab government through the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to meet Haryana's demand.
     Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are partnering states that meet their water requirements from Bhakra and Pong dams managed by the BBMB. The BBMB decides the annual quota of water supply to the three states for a cycle from May 21 to May 21 every year.
    A fresh row erupted with Haryana opposition leaders saying Punjab capped the Bhakra water supply to Haryana at 4,000 cusecs, even as the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue has been a bone of contention between the two states for the past several years.
    Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Chautala said, "Bhagwant Mann does not know what he is saying; he is trying to make people of the two states fight with each other."
    Chautala further said that during the agitation against central farm laws, farmers from Haryana stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Punjab farmers.
    He urged the Punjab farmers to exert pressure on the Mann government so that Haryana is given its due share of water.
    "If the government does not take any immediate action, then we will have to take a big decision," he said.
    "We will be forced to block all roads from Punjab which pass through Haryana and go towards Delhi and other parts of north India. This is not a mere threat," Chautala warned in a video message.
    The INLD chief said that districts like Sirsa, Hisar, and Fatehabad, which are Bhakra-dependent, are facing water shortages.
    Congress' Surjewala said that there is a shortage of drinking water in various parts of Haryana, especially in Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hisar, Rohtak.
    "Amidst such a severe water crisis, Bhagwant Mann and Nayab Saini are busy only in rhetoric and writing letters to each other...while the innocent people of Haryana are suffering. Bhagwant Mann's stubbornness and being power drunk and Saini's failure and incompetence are creating a situation of unnecessary conflict among both the states.
    "Today, when the whole country is standing united against terrorism, this situation of conflict in Punjab and Haryana is against the interest of both the states as well as the nation," Surjewala, Congress general secretary, said.
    On Tuesday, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini hit back at Mann, accusing him of twisting facts, hours after the AAP leader rejected the BJP-ruled state's "demand for more water".
    Saini cited a letter dated April 27, which he wrote to Mann, and said that he was surprised that instead of responding to his letter, Mann released a video and tried to "mislead" the people by disregarding the facts.
    Saini stated that on April 26, he told Mann over the phone that the Punjab officials were showing reluctance in implementing the decision taken by BBMB's Technical Committee on April 23 to release water to Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.
    Saini said Mann, on that day, had given him an assurance that the matter would be resolved by April 27 morning.
    However, when nothing happened, Saini said he wrote the letter to Mann to look into the issue.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)