No reason for Haryana to seek extra water when it has already got its share: Punjab Cong chief

Chandigarh, May 1 (IANS) With the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) deciding to release 8,500 cusecs more water to Haryana, Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday warned that people of the state would not allow a single drop of extra water to flow to any other state. He said what has been the rightful due of Haryana has already been provided to it and it cannot seek extra water when Punjab was itself too short of it.

Warring demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann call an emergency all-party meeting to devise an effective strategy to save Punjab’s waters.

Referring to the AAP announcement of holding protests, he said it was just drama aimed at diverting public attention.

“When you are in government, why do you need to stage any dharna?” he asked the AAP government while telling it to take everyone along.

Warring said there was no reason for Haryana to seek extra water when it had already got its share.

“We cannot let our own state go dry to provide water to others,” he observed, while assuring full support and cooperation to the Punjab government to deal with the situation.

The Congress state President accused the AAP government of hypocrisy, pointing out, it had a secret understanding with the BJP which was exposed when it unleashed a reign of terror on the peacefully protesting farmers.

“When you already have such an understanding with the BJP, why do you need to enact the drama of protests?” he asked the AAP leadership, while warning it against any compromise or surrender of Punjab’s water to any other state.

He clarified that his party was not against providing Haryana with the water that has been already allocated to it under various agreements in the past, which it has been receiving all these years.

“But we will not allow a single drop of extra water to flow out of Punjab,” he made it categorically clear, while explaining that when Punjab does not have enough water for its own consumption, how can it provide extra water to others.

The BBMB on Wednesday evening ordered that an additional 8,500 cusecs of water would be released to Haryana.

Aghast at this decision, the Punjab government has stepped up security at the regulator’s end of the Nangal dam.

During a meeting of the BBMB’s three member states -- Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the Punjab government issued a dissent note, saying it did not have an extra drop to share, and Haryana should have used its share judiciously.

While the release of water is yet to start, the government has stepped up security at the regulator end of the Nangal dam fearing a law-and-order situation.

--IANS

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