Congress Govt in Himachal is going to fall: BJP
Thakur said that the people of the state had given a chance to the Congress government for five years; however the Congressmen themselves have failed to handle their own government.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday opposed the Union government’s decision to waive off the condition of No Objection Certificate (NOC) for drawing water by Himachal Pradesh for water supply and irrigation schemes.
In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister called it unfortunate that the Union government had issued directions to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) chairman in this regard on 15 May, 2023.
Vide these directions, he said the Centre has directed the BBMB chairman to do away with the present mechanism of NOC with the condition that the cumulative drawal by the Himachal Pradesh government is kept below their analogous share in power (7.19 per cent) as decided by the Supreme Court.
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The CM said the decision is completely unjustified, baseless and grave injustice with Punjab because as per the water agreements, no water is required to be allocated to Himachal Pradesh out of the River Sutlej and Beas.
He said though the Supreme Court has allowed 7.19 per cent share to Himachal Pradesh but that share only relates to power and no orders have been issued by the Apex Court regarding the sharing of water.
Moreover, Mann said the sharing of water is an “inter-state dispute” and no unilateral directions can be issued to share the waters by the states.
The CM said BBMB was constituted for administration, maintenance and operation of the dam and reservoirs ( Nangal Hydel channel and Irrigation headworks at Ropar, Harike and Ferozepur).
As per the Act, BBMB is not authorised to give any water out of the rivers to any state other than the partner states, he said adding that Himachal Pradesh is not a partner state.
Mann said the waters of rivers Sutlej, Ravi and Beas have been allocated to Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Rajasthan under separate agreements, and Himachal Pradesh cannot raise any claim on the waters of the said rivers.
Mann said that in the present circumstances when the water in the rivers is declining drastically year after year and there have been pressing demands for water by all the partner states, the unilateral decision of the Union government needs to be reconsidered and withdrawn.
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