Chandigarh: Two days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Punjab government and police not to interfere in the working of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB)-controlled Nangal Dam, protesters Thursday kept the board chairman, Manoj Tripathi, locked inside a guest house near the dam in Ropar for nearly three hours.
Protesters, who have been sitting on a dharna outside the dam for the past week in protest against the Bhakra Beas Management Board decision to give Haryana water from Punjab’s share, gheraoed the chairman’s vehicle after his stop at the dam and forced him to retreat to the BBMB guest house—Sutlej Sadan. Led by Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, another set of protesters locked the gate of Sutlej Sadan to stop Manoj Tripathi from moving towards the dam.
Sitting outside, Punjab minister Bains demanded an FIR against Tripathi for trying to create disturbance at the site when the state government was busy with the issue of the war-like situation between India and Pakistan.
“Is the chairman trying to help Pakistan? We have locked him up here, and we will not move away till there is a case of sedition against him,” said Bains, who is currently the Ropar MLA.
The Punjab Police finally reached the site after three hours of high drama and convinced Manoj Tripathi not to go to Nangal Dam and instead to return to Chandigarh escorted by a police vehicle.
“Tripathi had come to the dam to open the dam gates, so water could go to Haryana,” said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who reached the Sutlej Sadan after Tripathi had left. Addressing the protesters, Mann said, “You have saved the day and failed a cunning attempt to steal our water.”
Bhagwant Mann alleged that without informing anyone in the Punjab government, Manoj Tripathi reached the Lohand control room, downstream from the Nangal Dam, and diverted 200 cusecs of water from Punjab to Haryana Thursday morning. “He wanted to do the same again, but the people in the area gathered and stopped him. After what has happened with him today, he is not likely to turn his face towards the dam,” said the chief minister, addressing the gathered crowd.
“It is a shame that the BBMB is trying to fish in troubled waters. The chairman tried to make the most of the fact that the Punjab government remained engaged with the issue of the India-Pakistan war-like situation. We are at the forefront of the war, and here, Tripathi is trying to steal our water,” said Bhagwant Mann.
How tensions escalated
The ongoing water war between Punjab and Haryana became more intense on 1 May this year when the Punjab government took control of the Nangal Dam from the Bhakra Beas Management Board to physically stop the flow of water of the Bhakra-Nangal dam system from Punjab to Haryana.
Nangal Dam is located in Ropar in Punjab on the border with Himachal Pradesh, downstream from the Bhakra Dam, which lies in Himachal Pradesh. The two dams together form the Bhakra-Nangal dam system, which stores and distributes water of the River Satluj.
The virtual takeover of the Nangal Dam from the control of the board—a centrally run body that regulates the distribution of water to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi—was for protesting against the Bhakra Beas Management Board decision to give additional water to Haryana from what, Punjab claimed, was its share.
The differences between Punjab and Haryana over water-sharing from the Bhakra-Nangal dam system began 4 April this year, when the BBMB, at a meeting of various stakeholders, stated its decision to accede to Haryana’s request, seeking 4,000 cusecs of water daily from Punjab’s share to meet its drinking water requirements.
Haryana sought additional water on the ground that it had used up the entire quota of its share. While agreeing to the demand, Punjab pointed out that Haryana should have used its water sparingly.
On 23 April this year, the board, over and above the 4,000 cusecs, agreed to give an additional 4,500 cusecs of water daily to Haryana—a step that Punjab strongly objected to in the meeting. However, the board reiterated its decision at a 30 April meeting.
After the 1 May virtual takeover of the Nangal Dam, the Bhakra Beas Management Board approached the Centre for relief. The next day, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan chaired a high-level meeting of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and the BBMB officials. Mohan advised the parties to allow the BBMB to release 8,500 cusecs to Haryana for at least eight days to meet its urgent water requirements.
After Punjab refused to comply with the Centre’s advice, the board approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
On Tuesday, a division bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu restrained “Punjab and its functionaries, including police personnel, from interfering in the day-to-day functioning, operation, and regulation of the Bhakra Nangal Dam, and the Lohand Control Room Water Regulation Offices.”
The court also directed Punjab to comply with the decision of the Centre during the 2 May meeting to release additional water to Haryana.
Addressing the protesters on Thursday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the Union Home Secretary, on 2 May, issued an “advice”, not a decision. “In any case, where is the decision of that meeting? The board should produce the decision,” said Bhagwant Mann.
When contacted, former advocate general of Punjab, Gurminder Singh, who represented Punjab in the high court, said the court had asked the Punjab government to comply with the 2 May decision of the Centre.
“We can challenge the decision only after the board can produce a copy of the order of the 2 May meeting. Where is the order? What does it say—no one knows! The board can not use a press statement as an official order of the Government of India,” Singh told ThePrint.
What Oppn is saying
The “detention” of the board chairman invited criticism from the Opposition.
Union Minister and BJP leader Ravneet Bittu objected to the move. “I demand FIR & sedition charges against Punjab CM @BhagwantMann & Edu Minister @harjotbains for illegally detaining BBMB Chairman in Nangal. At a time of national crisis, AAP plays dirty politics. This is a threat to national security,” Bittu wrote on X.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia termed the “detention” a “drama” to fool the people of Punjab. “During the high court hearing, Punjab was unable to defend itself and agreed to give additional water to Haryana, and a day later, it is indulging in this drama at a time when the nation is fighting a war with Pakistan,” said Majithia in a video message posted on X.
Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa wrote on X that the chief minister had chosen to indulge in cheap optics instead of fighting the battle in court. “Punjab’s CM dashes to BBMB for cheap optics but shies away from legal recourse. Too scared to fight for Punjab’s rights or just orchestrating a drama to mask your inaction? Your photo-ops can’t hide your retreat!” Bajwa wrote.
Former Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanded the immediate dismissal of the state education minister for detaining the Bhakra Beas Management Board chairman. “The attempt by a minister of the AAP government of Punjab to hold the BBMB chairman hostage is unconstitutional, undemocratic, inhuman and unacceptable. Such a minister of the Punjab government, who is trying to break the federal structure of the Constitution, should be dismissed immediately, and the central government should immediately remove the Punjab Police from the BBMB and deploy central forces,” Hooda wrote in his post.
On 3 May, at a special Vidhan Sabha session, the Punjab assembly unanimously resolved not to share with Haryana even a drop of water from its water in the Bhakra-Nangal.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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