Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, May 1:
Today, senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party staged a strong protest at Phase 7 lights in Mohali against the Centre’s decision to release additional water from Bhakra Dam to Haryana by force.
District Planning Committee Chairperson and AAP’s District President Prabhjot Kaur stated that the Centre is behaving unjustly with Punjab and that the Punjab government will not allow even a single drop of its water to go to waste. She made it clear that the Bhagwant Singh Mann government will not tolerate any plundering of Punjab’s water. She pointed out that although Haryana had already used its allocated quota for the period of May 21 to March 31, CM Bhagwant Mann, on humanitarian grounds, agreed to release 4,000 cusecs per day from April 6 onwards at Haryana’s CM’s request. However, she condemned the current demand from Haryana for irrigation water, under which BBMB is releasing 8,500 cusecs daily—calling it a direct assault on Punjab’s interests. She stressed that the water levels in Punjab’s three dams are already below the required mark, so giving away extra water is not possible.
Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board Chairman Sunny Singh Ahluwalia echoed the sentiment, calling the decision a betrayal of Punjab’s farmers. He mentioned that in the April 23 meeting, Water Resources Secretary Krishan Kumar had already clarified that Punjab has no surplus water. He criticized the Centre’s insistence as unjustified. He added that when the AAP government came to power under CM Mann, only 17% of irrigation water was delivered through channels, which has now increased to 78%. In such a situation, where irrigation demands within Punjab have risen, the government cannot allow water to be forcibly diverted to other states. He affirmed that the Punjab government and the Aam Aadmi Party will stand firm against such injustice to the state’s farmers. He added that CM Mann’s bold leadership at this critical time proves that the government will not tolerate any coercion in water matters.
Mohali Market Committee Chairman Gobindar Mittal and other local AAP leaders were also present during the protest.
