Chandigarh, Amid the water row with Haryana, the Punjab government on Tuesday told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the state police has been deployed at the Nangal dam due to security purposes and it was not interfering with the work of Bhakra Beas Management Board .
The Punjab chief secretary filed an affidavit stating this during the hearing on a petition filed by the BBMB objecting to the deployment of Punjab Police at the Nangal dam, calling it unconstitutional and illegal.
The BBMB alleged that the Punjab police forcibly took over the operation and regulation of the Nangal dam and Lohand Control Room water regulation offices and prevented the release of water to Haryana.
The division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel is yet to give its order on the BBMB’s plea.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, senior advocate Gurminder Singh, representing the Punjab government, gave details of the affidavit filed by the chief secretary.
“Punjab took a specific stand that neither the Punjab Police was interfering with BBMB’s work nor was it stopping them from doing their work,” he said.
He said senior police officers considered the police force deployment at the Nangal dam in the wake of cross-border tension.
“We have said in the affidavit that their apprehension was baseless. Police have been deployed for security purposes as the dams are important structures for the Centre and the state,” said Singh.
In its petition, the BBMB has sought a direction to the state of Punjab to forthwith remove its police force deployed “without any authority of law”.
BBMB’s counsel Rajesh Garg said they submitted that the Punjab Police should not interfere in the BBMB’s functioning.
Garg said the extra deployment of police force by Punjab was “malafide and motivated.”
“We have said the dam should be handed over to the engineers,” he said.
Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain, appearing for the Centre, said, the BBMB consists of representatives of several different states Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
It has the power to regulate water to different states, he pointed out.
“BBMB passed a resolution to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana for eight days. This resolution was passed and the Punjab government, if they are aggrieved by it, then they can challenge it in the court which they have not done,” said Jain.
“Now they have deployed the force at the Nangal dam, not allowing the BBMB to operate and regulate the water flow,” he said.
The Union Home Secretary called a meeting on May 2 in which it was decided to implement the BBMB’s decision, he said.
“Instead of doing that, the Punjab government deployed police there. We have said water supply to Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi be ensured,” said Jain.
“Punjab may be directed to ensure that the police at the Nangal dam does not obstruct the working of the BBMB and it is allowed to operate the project freely and regulate water to Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi,” said Jain.
The Punjab government has maintained that it is already providing 4,000 cusecs of water to Haryana on “humanitarian” grounds and refused to give 4,500 cusecs more, claiming that the neighbouring state has already utilised its allocated share by March.
The BBMB’s technical committee decided on April 23 that 8,500 cusecs of water would be given to Haryana.
On Saturday, another petition was filed in the court by advocate Ravinder Singh Dhull, alleging that the Punjab government has “illegally deployed” police at the BBMB Bhakra headworks and Lohand escape channel, flouting all constitutional duties.
Dhull said that apart from his and the BBMB’s petitions, the court has received a similar plea on the issue from a Haryana gram panchayat.
The matter came up before the bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu on Monday. The pleas were clubbed and the matter was posted for further hearing on Tuesday.
According to the BBMB’s petition, a decision was taken by its technical committee on April 23 regarding the release of 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana, which has not been complied with so far because of the non-placement of the indent before the board due to an objection from the respondent state .
Of the 8,500 cusecs of water allocated for Haryana, 500 cusecs were to be released to Rajasthan and 496 cusecs to Delhi, the BBMB’s plea says.
Punjab has not agreed to the decision to release any extra water beyond the 4,000 cusecs that have already been given to Haryana and the board, at a meeting on April 30, asked Haryana to place the indent directly before it, with copies to the Punjab and Rajasthan governments for revised releases.
It was also decided that Haryana will ensure the release of water to Rajasthan and Delhi to resolve the drinking water crisis in the desert state and submit daily compliance reports to the BBMB, according to the petition.
However, Punjab had not agreed to this decision, the plea said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.