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Sukhpal Khaira slams Centre on Art 370, says Punjab next target
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the Punjab Ekta Party chief, said the Modi government had muzzled the voice of people of Kashmir and it was now the turn of Punjab.
Punjab Ekta Party (PEP) chief Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Monday slammed the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government for abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that Punjab was next on their target.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Khaira said the Modi government had muzzled the voice of people of Kashmir and it was now the turn of Punjab. “They want to derail and economically cripple Punjab. There was a conspiracy and the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) played mischief by release huge qualities of water to cause floods in Punjab, otherwise a rain-deficient state,” he alleged.
Khaira is a rebel AAP MLA who has floated his separate party.
The PEP chief claimed the BBMB allowed water level in Bhakra dam to swell and reach the peak level of 1,680 feet and the water from Dehar and Pandoh power houses was diverted to Bhakra dam through Beas-Sutlej Link (BSL) to release in Sutlej river. “I do not rule out a political conspiracy behind this ‘unnatural flooding’ of Punjab,” he said.
Khaira claimed that even after water was released into river Sutlej, the canals in Punjab were running dry or at low capacity, particularly the Bathinda branch and Sirhind branch of Bhakra main line. He asked chief minister Amarinder Singh to clarify the matter why the overflowing water was not released into canals to reduce the impact of the flood water.
