Highlights Historical Betrayals of Opposition Parties on Punjab’s Water Rights
Takes Pointed Jab at LoP, Remarking On His Reputation For “U-turns”
Chandigarh, July 11
Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema today spoke passionately in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, advocating for the resolution to reject the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) proposal to deploy CISF personnel at its establishments. He delved into a historical account, accusing successive governments of jeopardising Punjab’s crucial water rights and devastating the state’s agricultural sector.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema commenced by recalling a 1954 agreement between Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, which stipulated that two-thirds of the Yamuna’s waters would be allocated to Punjab and one-third to Uttar Pradesh – an agreement, he asserted, that is meticulously documented in the records of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and the Central Government. He then lamented that in 1966, during the formation of Punjabi Suba, the ruling party and those advocating for Punjabi Suba disregarded this critical agreement. He specifically named leaders from the Congress, Akali Dal, and Jan Sangh of that era for relinquishing Punjab’s legitimate claim to Yamuna waters. Following this, he detailed the protracted struggles over the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, noting how these disputes led to the rise and fall of governments, tragic loss of young lives, and subsequent political leveraging of these very tragedies.
Further elaborating on the historical injustices, Finance Minister Cheema highlighted the 1966 Reorganization Act, which arbitrarily divided the Sutlej waters between Punjab and Haryana in a 60:40 ratio, making no provision for the Ravi and Beas rivers. He then pointed to the 1972 Irrigation Commission, which, for the first time, mentioned Yamuna water in relation to Punjab, specifically acknowledging the right of Sangrur and Patiala districts (now encompassing five districts) to Yamuna waters. Yet, he stated, no political party from Punjab pursued this claim, allowing Haryana to take two-thirds of the water.
The Finance Minister condemned the 1981 agreement during the Congress rule at both state and central levels, where Punjab received only 4 MF out of 17 MF of Ravi water, while Haryana received 3.5 MF and Rajasthan 8.6 MF. He labeled this a colossal betrayal, emphasizing that not a single part of the Ravi water basin lies within Haryana or Rajasthan. He directly questioned senior politicians present in the House about the rationale behind granting Ravi water to Haryana and specifically challenged why then-Chief Minister Darbara Singh consented to this allocation.
Finance Minister Cheema said that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has now formally presented Punjab’s demand to the Centre, proposing the construction of the Yamuna-Sutlej Link Canal to ensure Punjab receives 60 percent of the Yamuna’s water. He also revealed that Rs. 104 crore of BBMB funds have been withheld over the last nine months due to the absence of any audit of BBMB in the past 70 years, a process he has now requested for. He criticized previous governments for continually funding BBMB without safeguarding Punjab’s interests.
Regarding the immediate concern, Finance Minister Cheema disclosed that in 2021, the then-Congress government, led by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, agreed to hand over security of BBMB establishments to the CISF. He stressed that Punjab Police has commendably managed this security for the past 70 years, questioning the necessity and the substantial annual financial burden of approximately Rs. 50 crore that CISF deployment would incur. He accused the Congress party of conspiring with the central government to undermine Punjab’s water rights, alleging a joint plot by the then-Congress state government and the BJP central government to compromise the interests of the state’s farmers.
Responding to an objection raised by Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa concerning the current government’s alleged support for the Centre’s decision to bring the 50-kilometer area along the Pakistan border under BSF jurisdiction, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema clarified that this approval was also granted during the previous Congress government’s tenure. He then challenged a debate on the issue, taking a pointed jab at the Leader of the Opposition, remarking on his reputation for “U-turns.”
