Adding a new twist to the nearly four-decade-old inter-state dispute with Haryana over sharing of river waters, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has now demanded royalty on river waters that non-riparian states like Haryana (and Rajasthan) use from Punjab’s rivers.
Badal has advanced the argument that water is like other natural resources such as iron ore and coal and the state had been ‘mining’ it for several decades to produce food grain for the country. “If iron and coal-rich states can claim royalty for mining of their natural resources, why should this benefit not pass on to Punjab since water is our natural resource?’’ he claims.
Punjab contributes nearly 50 per cent to the food grain production in the country. Paddy and wheat cycle has led to increasing consumption of water through canal irrigation and also indiscriminate exploitation of underground water resources which has severely depleted the underground water table. That also forms basis of Punjab’s argument that it has no surplus water to share with the neighbouring states.
New issue
Taking the lead from Badal, the hill state of Himachal Pradesh has jumped into the fray saying that the state had the first right for royalty since most rivers flowing into Punjab originate in Himachal. Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has rubbished Badal’s demand for royalty retorting that Punjab should first give royalty on the river water share of Haryana as per inter-state agreements which it had not honoured so far.
The demand raised by Badal has not only been rebuffed by Haryana but also by the Centre with Union water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal saying there is no law in the country for pricing of river waters between states.
Hailing from Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, Bansal has said such demand is ‘unjustified’ and “lacked legal sanctity.” He warns that the same demand for royalty could be raised by Tibet and China which are originating points of several rivers flowing in the Indian territory.
Punjab has always claimed sole rights over river waters flowing through its territory quoting riparian principle. It refurbishes its fresh claim on royalty by claiming precedent that the British used to charge royalty from princely states of Nabha, Jind and Patiala for using river waters before independence.
For nearly three decades now, it has consistently stonewalled attempts by Haryana, including legal pronouncements, to construct Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal that was to carry waters of Ravi and Beas rivers from Punjab to Haryana as per inter-state agreement in the wake of Eradi Tribunal award in 1981. The tribunal’s interim award had allocated 3.5 million acres ft (MAF) as Haryana’s share from the Ravi-Beas basin which would be carried to the state by constructing an approximately 200 km long SYL canal. While Haryana has already constructed about 90 km of the canal length on its territory, Punjab has refused to construct the canal in keeping with its stand that it had no water to share with any other state.
In 2004, the apex court had directed the Centre to get the SYL canal completed through some neutral agency if Punjab does not construct its part within one year. However, the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab tried to subvert the court directive by passing in the Assembly the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act. A presidential reference on the validity of the Act is pending in the supreme court which will begin hearing this month.
Observers feel that Badal’s fresh salvo in raising the demand for royalty has been made keeping in mind this impending court battle for river waters between the two states.
The Akali stalwart convened an all-party meeting in Chandigarh two weeks ago which decided to approach the prime minister on the issue. The Congress in Punjab, however, has refused to join issue sensing the fact that Haryana and Rajasthan have Congress governments and any contentious demand could be viewed negatively by the party high command.
Badal has warned the Centre that any adverse adjudication on river waters issue could create law and order problems in the state. However, his Haryana counterpart, Bhupinder Hooda dubs the renewed charade from Punjab as political grandstanding in order to exploit public emotions ahead of the Assembly polls in the state about 18 months away.