BBMB controversy: BBMB has decided to give 8500 cubic meters of water from Bhakra Dam to Haryana.
BBMB controversy: BBMB has decided to give 8500 cubic meters of water from Bhakra Dam to Haryana. On the other hand, Punjab has refused to accept this decision. A meeting was held by BBMB in this matter at Chandigarh headquarters.
In this meeting, a meeting was held with the Commissioners of Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Sindh along with a representative of the Government of India.
They used their vote against Punjab to give less water to Haryana. Himachal played a neutral role in this matter. However, BJP-ruled states appeared united in this matter.
BBMB controversy: A day after the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) ordered that 8,500 cusecs of water be released to Haryana from the Bhakra dam, the Director of Water Regulation at Nangal, Akashdeep Singh (who is from Punjab), has been transferred out. He has been replaced by the Haryana cadre Director, Sanjeev Kumar, who has now been given the charge of Water Regulation.
With this move, the BBMB is hopeful of implementing its decision of releasing additional water to Punjab, which the Punjab government has been objecting to.
Sources say that, probably on the instructions of the Punjab government, Akashdeep Singh had been insisting that he would release water to Haryana only upon receipt of an indent for the release of water from Punjab, as specified in the Regulation Manual.
Interestingly, the transfer orders of the two officers who have swapped places mention that the transfer is being made at the request of Akashdeep Singh. The latter has now also sent a letter to BBMB denying having made any such request.
Even as the Punjab government has started exploring its legal options, the Chief Engineer of Punjab has written a letter to BBMB stating that the newly posted Director of Water Regulation, Sanjeev Kumar, has experience only in dam safety and has no experience in water regulation. The state government has demanded that this transfer be revoked immediately.
Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party has, meanwhile, announced state-wide protests against the decision of BBMB.
Later in the day, as the AAP led the protests, BBMB also transferred the Secretary of the Board, Surinder Singh Mittal, who hails from Haryana.
The Punjab government officials had alleged that he played a pivotal role on the issue of giving extra water to Haryana.
BBMB has now given Rajasthan engineer Balbir Singh the additional charge of Director (Security) as well as Secretary of BBMB. Similarly, Punjab engineer Rajiv Saini has been appointed OSD (Technical) to BBMB Chairman.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is holding protests across Punjab on Thursday against the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s decision to release 8,500 cusecs water to Haryana from the Bhakra Dam with immediate effect despite the Bhagwant Mann government’s objections.
AAP ministers and leaders announced the gherao of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offices and houses of BJP leaders in all districts across the state to protest the decision to allocate additional water to Haryana.
“The move to release Punjab’s share of water to Haryana is a direct attack on the state’s rights,” said an AAP spokesperson.
The BBMB regulates water distribution from the Bhakra, Ranjit Sagar and Pong dams.Reacting to BBMB’s decision, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said that Punjab strongly opposes the move to transfer the rights of the state and Punjabis to Haryana through the BBMB. “The BJP governments at the Centre and in Haryana have united against Punjab. We will not tolerate another robbery of our rights by the BJP under any circumstances,” the CM posted on X, warning that the BJP should be prepared to face strong opposition.
mesPunjab AAP president Aman Arora said that the party is ready to make any sacrifice against the decision to arm twist the BBMB into ordering the release of 8,500 cusecs more water to Haryana.
“This BJP hooliganism will be given a befitting reply. Remember, this is Punjab, which has turned back many such attacks,” he claimed.
The AAP’s strong reaction follows the BBMB’s decision on Wednesday evening to release 8,500 cusecs water to Haryana for its drinking water needs.
The decision was taken by the technical committee of the board at a meeting in which representatives of Rajasthan and Delhi backed Haryana’s request for water, ignoring the Punjab government’s objections, stating there was no surplus water to share with Haryana as the state had already drawn its share for the period.
Delhi High Court Judge’s House Controversy India 2025
Punjab and Haryana have a long history of discord over the distribution of river waters.