ਪੰਜਾਬ ਮੁੱਖ ਮੰਤਰੀ Bhagwant Singh Mann called the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) “useless” in the state Assembly on Monday and said ਪੰਜਾਬ would no longer accept its decisions about water sharing from the Sutlej and Beas rivers.
This statement came after Cabinet ਮੰਤਰੀ Barinder Kumar Goyal introduced a resolution against BBMB’s decision to allocate more water from Bhakra Dam to Haryana.
Mann said the Sutlej and Beas rivers flow through ਪੰਜਾਬ, making them the state’s rightful property. He argued that Haryana and Rajasthan have no direct connection to these rivers, yet their water needs are being unfairly met by ਪੰਜਾਬ.
The ਮੁੱਖ ਮੰਤਰੀ accused the Centre’s BJP ਸਰਕਾਰ of using the BBMB for political reasons, saying that meetings were held at odd hours without consulting ਪੰਜਾਬ. He called the BBMB a “white elephant” and demanded it be restructured.
Mann also said that ਪੰਜਾਬ’s canal system had greatly improved under his ਸਰਕਾਰ, increasing irrigation from 22% in 2021 to nearly 60% now. He stressed that ਪੰਜਾਬ no longer had extra water to share.
He added that while ਪੰਜਾਬ had earlier given water to Haryana on humanitarian grounds, the new demand of 8,500 cusecs could not be met. “ਪੰਜਾਬ will take all legal and constitutional steps to protect its rightful share,” he said.
