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Punjab House clears 5 resolutions to safeguard state’s water rights
Tabled by water resources minister Barinder Goyal on the concluding day of the session, the resolutions were adopted in the absence of opposition Congress and BJP legislators, who had staged a walkout earlier in the day
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The Punjab assembly on Tuesday passed five key resolutions asserting the state’s constitutional and historical rights over river waters while demanding repeal of dam safety Act, an equitable share in the Yamuna, control over crucial headworks, and royalty from Rajasthan.
Tabled by water resources minister Barinder Goyal on the concluding day of the session, the resolutions were adopted in the absence of opposition Congress and BJP legislators, who had staged a walkout earlier in the day.
Speaking during the discussion on resolutions, chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said that water is strictly a state subject and “not a single drop of Punjab’s rightful share would be surrendered.”
Questioning Haryana’s claim over Ravi-Beas waters, Mann said, “It is unfair that Haryana stakes its claim over Ravi-Beas waters while Punjab’s rightful share in Yamuna waters is ignored, despite the Yamuna being part of undivided Punjab.” He also reiterated the state’s demand for a Yamuna-Sutlej link while rejecting the Sutlej Yamuna link canal project.
Highlighting the transformation in irrigation under the AAP regime, Mann said that when his government assumed office in 2022, only 22% of Punjab’s water resources were being utilised, whereas the figure had now risen to nearly 80%.
“We have undertaken an extensive overhaul of Punjab’s irrigation network to ensure that canal water reaches even the tail-end fields. By cleaning rajbahas, laying 14,000 km of pipelines and rejuvenating canals and watercourses, we have strengthened the irrigation system and improved access to water for farmers,” he said.
Mann claimed that Punjab’s interests had suffered for decades, pointing out that the state received royalty on its river waters from Rajasthan until 1960, after which these were stopped completely. “Rajasthan continues to receive water from Punjab free of cost and uses it for economic benefits,” said the CM.
