Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, while speaking in the Vidhan Sabha on Friday, strongly advocated for the resolution to reject the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) proposal to deploy CISF personnel at its establishments.
He presented a historical narrative, accusing successive governments of compromising Punjab’s water rights and crippling the state’s agrarian economy.
Cheema began by recalling a 1954 agreement between Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, which stipulated that two-thirds of the Yamuna’s waters would be allocated to Punjab and one-third to Uttar Pradesh.
He asserted that this agreement is well-documented in the records of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and the Central Government.
He lamented that in 1966, during the formation of Punjabi Suba, both the ruling party and proponents of Punjabi Suba disregarded this crucial agreement. He specifically named leaders from the Congress, Akali Dal, and Jan Sangh of that era for surrendering Punjab’s legitimate claim to Yamuna waters.
He then detailed the prolonged conflict over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, noting how the issue triggered the rise and fall of governments, caused the tragic loss of young lives, and became fodder for political opportunism.
Further elaborating on these historical injustices, Cheema highlighted that the 1966 Reorganization Act arbitrarily divided Sutlej waters between Punjab and Haryana in a 60:40 ratio, while making no provision for the Ravi and Beas rivers.
He pointed to the 1972 Irrigation Commission, which for the first time acknowledged Yamuna waters in the context of Punjab, specifically recognizing the rights of Sangrur and Patiala districts (now spread across five districts). However, he stated that no political party in Punjab pursued this claim, allowing Haryana to continue drawing two-thirds of the water.
Cheema condemned the 1981 agreement signed during Congress rule at both the state and central levels, under which Punjab was allocated only 4 million acre-feet (MAF) of Ravi water out of 17 MAF, while Haryana received 3.5 MAF and Rajasthan 8.6 MAF. He called this a “colossal betrayal,” emphasizing that not a single part of the Ravi basin falls within either Haryana or Rajasthan.
The Finance Minister informed the House that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has now formally presented Punjab’s demand to the Centre, proposing the construction of the Yamuna-Sutlej Link Canal to ensure that Punjab receives 60 percent of Yamuna’s waters. He also revealed that ₹104 crore of BBMB funds have been withheld over the past nine months due to the absence of any audit in the BBMB’s 70-year history, a process he has now initiated.
On the immediate issue, Cheema disclosed that in 2021, the then-Congress government, led by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, had agreed to transfer the security of BBMB establishments to the CISF. He stressed that the Punjab Police had efficiently managed this responsibility for the past 70 years and questioned the necessity of involving CISF, which would impose an additional annual cost of approximately ₹50 crore.
Responding to an objection raised by Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa regarding the current government’s alleged support for the Centre’s move to bring the 50-kilometre stretch along the Pakistan border under BSF jurisdiction, Cheema clarified that the approval was originally granted during the Congress regime.
He challenged Bajwa to a debate on the matter and took a pointed jab, referring to the Opposition Leader’s reputation for “U-turns.”