Ask Punjab to release our share of water first: Haryana CM Khattar

Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi should “shun petty politics over water”, and instead ask its own government in Punjab to release Haryana’s share of 3.5 million acre-foot of Ravi Beas waters by constructing the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. The AAP, on its part, said Khattar and the Haryana government were “spreading baseless lies to shift the blame of their wrongdoings on the Delhi government”, and added that Haryana’s refusal to provide Delhi with its fair share of water was responsible for the national Capital’s water crisis.

“Haryana is currently releasing more than 1,049 cusecs of water to Delhi. We can’t deprive our state of water and give Delhi more than their legitimate share. I promise that the day Punjab gives us our legitimate share, Haryana will increase Delhi’s current water share,” Khattar said at a press briefing.

He said that on February 29, 1996, the Supreme Court had directed Haryana to provide an additional 330 cusecs of water per day to Delhi. Earlier, Delhi’s share was 719 cusecs per day. “In compliance with these orders, Delhi is being given 1,049 cusecs of water every day. The Delhi government is now lying about the water issue, which is very unfortunate,” he said.

To this, a spokesperson of the Delhi government said, “Khattar and the Haryana government are spreading baseless lies to shift the blame of their wrongdoings on the Delhi government. It is because of their refusal to provide Delhi with its fair share of water that the national Capital is facing a water crisis. According to the agreement, the Yamuna river must maintain a water level of 674.5ft but the current level stands at 668ft. The Haryana government must stop playing politics over a resource like water during this scorching heat and release Delhi’s rightful share of water.”

Meanwhile, Khattar also said there was a power shortage of up to 1,800 megawatts (MW) per day this year in Haryana due to the non-availability of power from multiple sources and the early onset of summer. “The state’s electricity consumption has increased this year as compared to last year. At present, Haryana’s demand for electricity is 700 to 800 lakh units more than last year. Also, the state’s peak power demand has reached 9,874MW per day. We have been able to supply electricity equal to consumption since May 16 ,” he said.

The CM said that the state has also started receiving about 600MW power per day from Adani Power Ltd. Also, by May 30, an additional 600MW power per day is likely to be available from the second unit of the Khedar plant, he said.