DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Ruling party AAP MLAs on Monday targeted the previous Congress governments at the Centre and in Punjab for committing "blunders" in the water sharing and sought an apology for the same. Citing historical references and data, cabinet minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond outlined how the state's water resources have been systematically "looted".

During the 1980s, when Congress was in power at the Centre and in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan states, it failed to "defend Punjab's water rights and instead bowed before the Centre," he said. He also blamed the Congress governments for making Nangal dam and Harike Headworks, claiming that riparian laws were not followed. Besides, the Ravi-Beas agreement was signed in 1955 without any consent from the Punjab government, he claimed.

The minister said that to feed the nation, Punjab exhausted its groundwater and warned that the current pace of water exploitation will soon push the state into an even deeper crisis.

AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Banawali also blamed the previous Congress governments for "injustices" done to Punjab and sought an apology. Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa objected to the demand and said there should be no mudslinging in the session. He, however, said that his party stands with the Punjab government over the current issue and called for the scrapping of the Bhakra Beas Management Board and the repealing of the Dam Safety Act of 2021.

Another AAP MLA, Amritpal Singh Sukhanand, tore the Bhakra Beas Management Board's order, which asked Punjab to release 8,500 cusecs water to Haryana.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemned the BJP-led central government for its ongoing "attacks" on Punjab, citing the reduction of the state's borrowing limit and the now-repealed farm laws.

(editor@dailyworld.in)