Haryana in poll mode: parties play water games to garner votes
With politics gathering steam in Haryana, the key political players are engrossed in playing water games this summer. The state faces water scarcity and the politicians have chosen the onset of summers to indulge in issues related to water.
The Opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) set the tone for a war on water issues last month when it announced a 'Jail Bharo' agitation from 1 May along with its new found pre-poll political ally, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The INLD has been trying to build up a narrative around the completion of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue for almost a year now, particularly since it's 'ally' the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was voted out of power in Punjab.
The INLD drew the first blood by launching the 'Jail Bharo' agitation targeting both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regimes in both the state and the Centre along with the Congress that is in power in Punjab for not allowing Haryana to get its share of river waters of Punjab. This has compelled both the ruling BJP government in the state under Manohar Lal Khattar as well as the Congress party to join issues in their own ways.
Last week, Khattar gave a new dimension to the issue by asking the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab to join hands in checking the wasteful flow of Ravi waters to Pakistan while keeping in view the unprecedented water crisis that looms large before both the states of Haryana and Punjab.
He informed that he has written a letter to his Punjab counterpart Amarinder to direct his concerned officers to take up the proposal in right earnest. The letter states, “You must have noticed reports about an unprecedented water crisis that looms large before our states. More and more blocks of Haryana and Punjab have anyway been slipping into the category of over exploited blocks even as our hardworking farmers toil in the face of a stressed farm sector. I think that time has come when we must join hands in checking the wasteful flow of Ravi waters to Pakistan.”
It further said, “ You may perhaps be aware that the sixth meeting of the committee formed by government of India in this regard was held by the Central Water Commission, New Delhi on April 24, 2012. It had assessed the quantum of Minimum Utilisable Water (MUW) as 32 cumecs (equivalent to 0.58 Million Acre Feet) on a sustainable basis. The Committee decided that the proposal for its diversion by constructing a 2.0 metre to 2.5 metre high diversion weir structure across river Ravi with a gravity flow canal off-taking from Dharamkot to Harike head works was viable. The Committee also opined that any other techno-economically superior alternative that would minimise the problem of implementation of the scheme may be carried out during preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) based on actual survey and investigation by an agency to be decided separately at an appropriate forum.”
The letter says that the government of India had accordingly asked all the partner states to build consensus on engaging the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to undertake feasibility studies and to construct the above project and that government of Punjab may take follow-up action on the minutes of meeting.
Khattar's letter says that it is indeed unfortunate that there has been no visible progress on the issue so far and the ever so precious water is still going to Pakistan. This enormous national wastage of water needs to be stopped immediately. Being divertible, this water should instead be utilised for the benefits of the people of the partner states.
The letter requests Amarinder to direct his concerned officers to take up the proposal in right earnest. “I have directed our chief secretary and principal secretary, Department of Irrigation and Water Resources to accord 'top priority' to this. They shall make it convenient to attend any meeting that your officers may consider necessary on the subject so as to ensure expeditious implementation of this proposal which has already been declared as national project by the government of India,” it says.
Showing his deft political skills Amarinder has responded by urging the centre to take the lead in ensuring optimum harnessing of the Ravi-Beas waters while suggesting constitution of a technical panel of experts to work out ways to restrict the flow of water from Punjab into Pakistan.
During a briefing on Monday, he said that he had not yet received the letter purported to have been written by his Haryana counterpart but made it clear that his government would take every possible step secure more water for the state.
Pointing out that melting of ice leads to rise in the water levels in the three rivers of Ravi, Beas and Satluj, causing it to flow into Pakistan, Amarinder said he has written to union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari suggesting storage of the excess water in dams in Himachal Pradesh to check its flow into Pakistan. He has further suggested that all the stored water be controlled in Himachal Pradesh. Amarinder also claims to have stressed upon the need for the central government to take the initiative in the matter.
According to a Punjab government spokespersons it needs to be noted that under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India has been allowed unrestricted usage of available water in Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Significant quantum of water of Ravi is flowing across the international border through tributaries like Ujh, Jallialia, Tarna etc. joining the Ravi downstream of the rim station at Madhopur. The quantity of water of Ravi flowing across the international border is assessed to be 0.58 million acre feet (MAF). In 2015, the Punjab government submitted a report giving two alternatives to utilise this water.
The spokesperson further said that a high powered steering committee for implementation of national projects what is chaired by secretary (Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation) constituted a team comprising officers of Central Water Commission and Irrigation Department of the union government on March 3, 2017 to visit the site of proposed second Ravi Beas Link Project and submit a feasibility report. The team visited the site on December 5, 2017 and observed that harnessing the waters of Ravi is in national interest, and from among Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, the greatest scope for utilisation of unharnessed waters is in Ravi and technical feasibility of transfer of water from Ravi to Beas needs to be ascertained.
Earlier in March, Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari had reportedly said the central government has decided to solve the water problems in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan by utilising water from rivers flowing into Pakistan.
At local level former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been accusing both the INLD and the BJP of failing to get the SYL canal project executed. He has also been scathing in his attack on the Khattar government for shelving the Dadupur-Nalvi canal project after more than Rs 3000 crore was spent on it. The scheme was initiated in 1985 and the project was approved by the state government for Rs 13 crore for irrigation and recharging of ground water in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Ambala districts. For implementing the scheme, 190.67 acre land was acquired between 1987 and 1990. But nothing more was done.
There is also the general perception that had Prime Minister Narendra Modi been as strong as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he could have got the state governments of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to sign a dotted line on providing river water share to Haryana. Till 2016 year it was the SAD-BJP combine that was in power in Punjab while his own party has been in power in Rajasthan and Haryana.
With Haryana state Assembly polls scheduled to follow the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the water games are expected to intensify in the political games in the days to come.
