Patiala/Nabha, May 3: The decision of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release 4,500 cusecs of additional water daily from Bhakra dams to Haryana for the next eight days has made the stand of the Bharatiya Janata Party Punjab Pradesh on the water dispute clear.
Bharatiya Janata Party Scheduled Caste Morcha Vice President Paramjit Singh Kaith said that the political propaganda being done against BJP has been made clear in the all-party meeting held on the water dispute.
Political parties in Punjab try to make a living for political gains but adopt a lax attitude on Punjab issues. BJP leader Sardar Kaith said that the BBMB, which monitors the distribution of water from Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams, was formed under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
The main function of BBMB is to regulate water and power supply to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Never before has such a deadlock occurred and veterans working in BBMB said that earlier there were differences on many occasions and the matters were resolved amicably. But now instead of discussing the issue, politics is being played which is unfortunate.
A statutory body constituted under Section 79 and Section 80 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the BBMB is headed by a Chairman and has two whole-time members, who are nominated as Member (Irrigation), who is from Haryana for instance, and one Member (Power) from Punjab.
India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty from its side after the terrorist attack in the Besran Valley of Pahalgam in Kashmir, in which 28 Indian citizens were killed. Decisions like the recent one taken by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to abrogate the Indus Water Treaty will benefit Punjab immensely as there will be no more problem of water dispute.