Why India can never be the same without Punjab

[Deep Singh]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040715/...5/punjab1.htm#3

Punjab loath to handing over SYL records

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 14

“Having passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act and apprised the Union Government about the changed situation, the onus now rests on the Union Government how it proposes to handle the situation in the light of June 4 order of the Supreme Court with regard to the construction of the SYL canal”, said a top functionary of the Punjab Government today.

Answering a question in connection with the transfer of canal-related records to the CPWD, the agency identified by the Centre to execute the construction of the SYL canal, the officer said it was now up to the Centre to apprise the Supreme Court regarding the changed situation in the light of the new Act. The Centre had been directed by the Supreme Court to identify the agency to construct the canal, he added.

July 15 is the deadline to handover the record to the CPWD and give possession of the canal site.

The issue was discussed by Punjab officers with legal experts in New Delhi today. The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and all senior officers, including the Advocate-General, Mr Harbhagwan Singh, are camping in New Delhi. They have been briefing the Centre, the Congress leaders and Members of Parliament regarding the Act.

Punjab officers

have been emphasising that “while Punjab’s right over river waters is unquestionable, it has fully protected the current utilisation of the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej by different states. Punjab officers have told them that there has been a serious lacuna in water-sharing agreements among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The water sharing has also not been in tune with international riparian laws.

Haryana and Rajasthan continue to utilise the waters of the Ravi and the Beas rivers even though they are neither riparian nor basin states. River waters continue to flow to Haryana and Rajasthan through a canal system from Punjab without any hindrance.

Mr P. S. Kumedan, river waters expert, said one little known fact to the outside world is that Haryana had been already utilising 1.62 MAF water from the Ravi and the Beas through Bhakra Main Canal though it was not a riparian state. He, however, said Haryana had not disclosed this fact to the people of the country.

He said besides sharing the Ravi-Beas waters, Haryana’s utilisation from the Sutlej waters was 4.33 MAF. In all, Haryana was utilising about 5.95 MAF water from the Sutlej, the Ravi and the Beas.

No water for Haryana, says Mayor

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 14

Accusing the old Congress leadership of Punjab and the Akali factions of having taken a weak stand in favour of Punjab on the issue of river waters in the past which deteriorated the situation, Mr Anil Dutta, member of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, and Mr Surinder Mahey, Jalandhar Mayor, today threatened that not a single drop of water would be allowed to be given to Haryana.

Lauding the stand taken by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, Mr Dutta and Mr Mahey, said Captain Amarinder Singh was the only leader who had taken a very bold stand on the river waters issue to protect the interests of Punjab.

While making interesting observations at a press conference here today, Mr Datta and Mr Mahey said. “It is a matter

of regret that old Congress leaders and Akalis have done little in the past to protect the rights of Punjab as far as river waters are concerned. The Congress leadership in the past took a weak stand which led to deterioration of the situation. Congress workers won’t allow flow of a single drop of water to Haryana even if we have to come out on roads,” said Mr Datta and Mr Mahey.

Rajasthan biggest loser in river waters row

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

Highlights

-Rajasthan, and not Haryana, will be the biggest loser.

-The move can leave large parts of Rajasthan without any water.

-Haryana is still getting some water of Ravi and Beas despite an incomplete SYL.

-Punjab’s opinion: reassess the flow of rivers.

-The abrogation not to affect the division of Satluj waters between these states.

Chandigarh, July 14

Punjab’s annulment of the agreement over sharing of river waters has far-reaching consequences than are assumed. The controversial Satluj-Yamuna Link canal is not the only one to be adversely affected by the move.

Besides the visible political posturing with Haryana, the state of Rajasthan will be the biggest loser. Even Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir will have to bear the brunt of the abrogation.

The inter-state agreement for sharing of waters of the Ravi and the Beas was signed among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in December 1981. The three states agreed to share the 17.7 million acre feet (MAF) water of these rivers. Rajasthan has the largest share of the Ravi and the Beas at 8.6 million acre feet (MAF) annually.

Haryana has a share of 3.5 MAF and a portion of the share was already being supplied even without the SYL, said sources in the irrigation department.

Going by the two day-old Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, the share of waters of the Ravi and the Beas of these states stand annulled. If Punjab implements its deci

sion on the ground, then large areas of Rajasthan will be parched as they get water mainly through the Indira Gandhi Canal and some through the Bhakra Main Branch.

Among the areas which will be affected are Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Suratgarh, Bikaner and Anupgarh, which are close to the India-Pakistan border. There is fear that drinking water supply to the jawans posted in these areas would be affected.

The abrogation of the agreement will also have some effect on Delhi which gets 0.22 MAF of water for drinking purposes and J&K which gets 0.65 MAF from these two rivers. Water to J&K is given through the Kashmir Canal which starts from the Madhopur headworks on the Ravi near Pathankot. Punjab’s share is 4.22 MAF.

The waters of the Satluj will continue to flow normally through the canals as the agreement for the Satluj was not part of the 1981 agreement signed by the then Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The waters of the Satluj are divided on percentage basis. The formula is: The more the flow the more the share.

Punjab has already contested the formula for fixation of water shares in the 1981 agreement. The Eradi Tribunal set up almost two decades ago is still hearing all the parties. The Tribunal recently visited Nangal. The terms of reference of the Tribunal includes assessment of water in the rivers. Punjab says that the flow of river waters has been taken from data collected between 1921 and 1960. Punjab says the inflows have reduced and the latest data should be used.

If India looses Punjab, four of it's states would be without water! there will be hunger and no food.

[ms514]

Sat Sri Akal:

Yeah, it is a serious issue. BUT there ARE other rivers in India. Why ain't they canalling them up?

The "protocol" of making canals is that the state that has the rivers should get 100% of what they need from the rivers first, which is not the case in Punjab (the land's drying up there as well). Then, the excess water can be given to other states.

They make it seem as if the entire country of India has only five rivers and they all run through the Punjab, which is nonsense. Dehli Darbar has known for years that this demand was on the table, and yet they had made no backup plans? This means one of two things: 1) This is a political stunt for popularity in Punjab 2) The Central Government will not allow the termination to take place.

[Deep Singh]

Very good points. Noted! :T:

[Kara]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

Actually placing canaling on a river also prevents it from meandering, which causes erosion and the destruction of many other resources like fertile land production and mineral extraction.

If used properly it has its benefits. Rivers are like knives in warm butter if you speed up time. The rivers widen out over time and then fluvial minerals and marine minerals separate, causing the water to be a useless resource (i.e. fresh water stays on the bottom and travels into the ground while salt water stays on top). Its a huge problem in China, and it was totally mismanaged. Now the land is a dry barren wasteland in many recently fertile places in southwestern Manchuria.

This is because the rivers were not controlled around important land investments.

On the other hand, when the policies are written in regards to the water shares, they extend past the five rivers completely and include the estuaries and underground channels that flow as a result of the five main rivers throughout india. These rivers branch all across India if you see their extent past the vision of the naked eye.

Managing the rivers will keep the land fertile and will also ensure that many of the wells drilled for water in towns as far away as the mid western region of rajasthan all the way to the deprived regions of burma and utter pradesh depend heavily on the lesser known underground channels that run through as a result of the quintessential delta that defines the state of Punjab.

I also think that there is a reason that natural resources are not state owned in a democratic state. Especially primary resources. In Canada

, the Federal Government reserves the right to call a resource in any province, a Canadian resource. This is because the sum benefit the whole. Although we may not want Punjab as a state that is part of India, including the 2/3rds of the Sikh territory we claim that is within the borders of Pakistan, I say at least as Singhs we should recognize that we are not giving water to surrounding states at no cost. This isn't seva. All water shares come at commodity's price, and the state run legislature gains asset finances and compensation for the amount of water already traversing across the country.

Unfortuneately, I believe this just causes greater regional disparity and we really are gaining a great income from it.

Its got many advantages, I suppose:

a.) Management of dynamic hydrostatic water systems, to prevent meandering effects and erosion or flooding or pressure drawdown.

b.) Income to the state of Punjab through the CPWD accords and the Punjabi Termination of Agreements Act

c.) This is a canal, not a dam, pressure on both sides of the rivers will be unchanged. Underground estuaries and channels will remain at the disposal of the resource and production generators in the Punjabi state.

Exactly, India needs Punjab simply because of its resource abundance which many other states do not have. But Punjab at the moment needs India because of the business that has accrued through simple land investments made by all indians.

Goa is the richest state in India, but that is because of its size and tourism industry. Punjab has by far the greatest income per capita (not captia per income as someone said on this forum). This is because of the tenure of the land itself.

I'm more interested to know what kind of state run developments in the Oil and Gas sector Punjab has made at the international level. This is a source of great income especially for the geological state of Punjab.

I'm definately sure that Punjab has one of the richest minera

l resources and natural non-renewable resources in all of India, which may be a huge industry in its future.

If anyone needs information on the geological advantages of Northwestern india, email me, I've got tons of papers from University.

Oh and again, don't worry about claiming the water. There is so much water in Punjab its actually beneficial to the state (from an economic standpoint) to allow the federal government to invest its money in managing the rivers) its actually saving Farmers lots of money and increases the value of the land around the area of the channels themselves because the water itself is controlled by hydrostatic pressure turbines that make sure the river flows accordingly and not turbulently in unpredictable fashion.

The more investment the indian government places on the resources in punjab, the richer the state will get.

Maybe we should share our water as an act of seva to those states and countries less fortunate. I wouldn't mind sending fresh water to deprived and inarable lands in the plagued lands of Africa and some desert areas in India. It would go to give Punjab the image of a state predestined for Khalistans institution.

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

[Deep Singh]

The problem is that we who are sitting here don't know much about the situation in Punjab. What the real facts are. If Punjab really will be a desert etc. If Punjab has too much water. I don't think anyone can answar without having proper knowledge of this.

There should be some Punjabi agencies working on this issue. What do they say? I read in the news that Punjabi University Patiala staff agreed with Captain, that they took this step, like nullifing the water-supply accord. If we are not going to believe them, who shall we believe. Are there any "water-experts" here? The issue is not like what happened in this pind or that pind..but how the overall situation is like. I think Punjab Agriculture University (Jalandhar??) is our best resource for knowledge on this issue.

Brother i feel that those who sit in the Punjab assembly aren't dumb. If there was economic gains by letting the water out, they would have chosen that. I believe their firm decision on this point, has come after serious debates and that those who are sitting int the punjab vidhan sabha do know what they are doing. B)