Non-Riparian Rajasthan, a freeloader ungrateful state, declares 'WATER WAR' on Punjab
Gas-rich but water-thirsty Pakistan a ready customer for East Punjab's river waters.
Eloquent tribute paid to the Khalistani spirit, by leading Pakistani journalist Khalid Hasan, who attended Mann's Washington DC Press Conference.
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, May 04, 2005 - A typical Chanakiyan plot - a secret plan - by non-riparian Hindu-majority states to steal Punjab's life-giving river waters surfaced on Monday May 02, 2005, when the Rajasthan High Court brazenly ruled that the State of Punjab must hand over control of the Ferozepur, Harike and Ropar canal headworks - all three located in East Punjab territory - to the illegal Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB). The court further directed the Central government in New Delhi to ensure compliance of its illegal order within thirty days. Some impudicity!Readers may recall that we had correctly predicted the above move by Rajasthan in the Khalistan Calling dated March 02, 2005, when we wrote (> /Main/K_Calling/kc03022005.htm <) that, "in another coincidence the Rajasthan government has promoted, on Monday February 28, 2005, the Chairman of the Indira Gandhi Canal board and appointed him Chief Secretary. The new Chief Secretary, Anil Vaish, is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1970 batch and is considered an expert on river waters. It seems as if the Rajasthan government is getting ready for a repeat of the January 29, 1955 and the December 31, 1981 'accords' which allotted more river water to non-riparian Rajasthan than was allowed to riparian water-short Punjab. The Rajasthan canal which is more like a river, named Indira Gandhi canal to spite the Sikhs, has been siphoning Punjab river water, free of charge, for over three decades." On April 06, 2005 in another Khalistan Calling we again warned our readers that a conspiracy was being hatched in non-riparian states of Rajasthan and Haryana to snatch Punjab's Ferozepur, Ropar and Harike canal headworks: > /Main/K_Calling/kc04062005.htm <)
On Monday May 02, 2005, the Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, comprising Justice Shiv Kumar Sharma and Justice Karni Singh Rathore, issued the 'illegal' order mentioned in paragraph one above, on a petition filed by a former chief engineer of the Rajasthan Irrigation Department, D.M. Singhvi, a 72-year-old farmer. Singhvi had prayed for directions from the High Court so that, 'the share of residents of Rajasthan in river waters could be safeguarded through strict compliance of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966'. The Rajasthan High Court taking cognizance of Singhvi's Public Interest Litigation (PIL), said that, 'the water supply from the two projects, Bhakhra Nangal Project (BNP) and the Beas Project (BP) was to be controlled by the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) according to Section 79 of the Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966. But this had not been done and the Punjab government was still controlling the head-works of the two projects through a sub-committee of the BBMB'. The court further ruled that, "Punjab does not have any right to keep control of head-works and to flout the mandate of Section 79. It is only the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) that is entitled to keep administration and control of head-works in order to safeguard the fundamental right to water of the petitioner and other farmers of the state of Rajasthan."
Punjab, represented by Senior Lawyer, A.K. Ganguly, argued that the Rajasthan High Court had no jurisdiction for hearing water disputes and questioned the maintainability of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by D. M. Singhvi. The Rajasthan High Court (two member bench comprising Justice Shiv Kumar Sharma and Justice Karni Singh Rathore) however, rejected the contention saying that, 'the PIL did not deal with any water dispute and as such it was maintainable. Since the petitioner and other similarly situated farmers of Rajasthan have a fundamental right to water, this court has to address the issue from humanitarian point of view'. According to the TRIBUNE, a Chandigarh-based newspaper, the Punjab Government is likely to move the Supreme Court against the Rajasthan High Court May 02, 2005, order. Punjab Advocate-General Harbhagwan Singh has already been asked to leave for New Delhi to hold consultations with top legal experts.
The TRIBUNE newspaper (> http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050503/main6.htm#2 <) report further claims that, "Legal experts associated with the case maintained that, the Punjab Government had a strong case as the preliminary objection was that in cases of water disputes, only the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to adjudicate. But, our application in this regard was dismissed. More so, the High Court should have waited for the replies of the Union of India and the governments of Punjab and Rajasthan". The Punjab government, according to the Tribune, may retain the services of senior lawyer A. K. Ganguly, who had represented Punjab in the Rajasthan High Court, to also plead its case in the Supreme Court.
According to another report in the Indian Express, headlined, 'HC sets stage for fresh water row. In major boost to Rajasthan, court takes away Bhakhra Nangal, Beas projects from Punjab govt' (> http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=69674 <) the Rajasthan High Court decision is being, "seen as a major victory for Rajasthan, which gets its waters through the canal headworks at Ferozepur, Ropar and Harike for its Gang Canal, Bhakhra Canal and the Indira Gandhi Canal. The petitioner, D. M. Singhvi, had moved the court, arguing that Rajasthan never got its full share of water as the controls were in the hands of the Punjab government. The Rajasthan government, which had hinted at legal action against Punjab, after a series of spats with its neighbour, has welcomed the decision. 'Our discussions with the Centre on the issue had failed to yield results. But the HC has given us that relief', said Rajasthan's Secretary for Irrigation, S. N. Thanvi. "Giving the control to BBMB, a centrally governed body, will ensure regular supply of our assured quota," said Thanvi, "as according to the water-sharing agreement with Punjab, Rajasthan is entitled to 11,000 cusecs per day. In 2004, however, Punjab had passed a legislation unilaterally terminating the agreement with Rajasthan and Haryana. It had also challenged the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Rajasthan High Court, invoking section 11 of the Inter-State River Dispute Act, 1956." End quote.
In a reaction to the illegal Rajasthan High Court judgement, one Sirdar Pritam Singh Kumedan, a Punjabi river water expert, told the TRIBUNE newspaper on Monday last, that, "nowhere in the world was a non-riparian province or country allowed to draw water from the share of a riparian province or country. Even in India, no riparian state except Punjab gave water from its share to any non-riparian states. But, Rajasthan even though it was a non-riparian state, had been drawing a huge share of 11.2 MAF from Punjab waters for a long time, with a capitalised value of over Rs 6 lakh crore (Six thousand billion Rs) which water quantity is much more than what Punjab retains for its own use. Rajasthan was drawing 8.6 MAF of water from the Ravi-Beas system through the Rajasthan canal, also called the Indira Gandhi Canal. It was one of the biggest canals in the world having the capacity to carry 18,500 cusecs of water. Rajasthan was also getting 1.5 MAF through the Bhakra Mainline canal besides 1.1 MAF through the Gang canal, also called the Bikaner canal". Sirdar Pritam Singh Kumedan also pointed out that non-riparian Hindu-majority state of Rajasthan was paying "seigniorage" (revenue) to Punjab ONLY on 1.1 MAF of water, which Rajasthan siphons through the Gang canal. Rest of the water (10.1 MAF out of 11.2 MAF) Rajasthan has been getting FREE OF CHARGE for the past forty years. (To read water expert Sirdar Pritam Singh Kumedan's exact words of wisdom on Rajasthan High Court's illegal judgement please click at: > http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050503/punjab1.htm#7 <)
Within 24 hours of the Rajasthan High Court's judgement the Punjab Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), which has a mass following among the farmers of Punjab, was up in arms. It has threatened to launch a mass agitation against the directive of the Rajasthan High Court to Punjab state to hand over the control of the three headworks to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), saying 'the decision was unconstitutional and against the interests of farmers of Punjab'. ( > http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050504/ldh1.htm#2 <) Talking to the TRIBUNE correspondent in Ludhiana yesterday, the acting president of the BKU, Mr Manjit Singh Kadian, and Mr Bhupinder Singh Mahesari, general secretary (press), said that an emergency meeting of the BKU working committee had been called on May 10, 2005, to formulate the modalities of the agitation and to mobilise farmers for this purpose. They said that, "the BKU and all other Punjabis, including the farming community, would never accept the Rajasthan High Court decision to hand over control of these three canal headworks to the BBMB. Every attempt would be made by the Punjabis to save the precious water of the state, as providing Punjab river water to Rajasthan, a non-riparian state, is illegal and against natural justice. They said that the proposed agitation by the BKU would make a forceful demand from the government to stop forthwith the free supply of river water to Rajasthan and further to ask Rajasthan to pay for the water which it had received from Punjab so far."
For details of the 'Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004' please read Khalistan Calling dated July 14, 2004, headlined, "Punjab Assembly unanimously passes the historic 'Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004', on July 12, which cancels ALL past unequal agreements about Ravi/Beas waters" by clicking at: > /Main/K_Calling/kc07142004.htm < For a general background, and all you ever wanted to know about the thirty years-long 'Water War' waged against the Sikh Homeland, please click at: < /Main/K_Calling/kc06092004.htm >)
We feel that the popular Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amrinder Singh should muster ALL Punjabis under one 'standard' on the water issue to safeguard this life-giving precious commodity for our future generations. In the meantime he ought to put its foot down and say - NO MORE - to non-riparian Rajasthan state currently administered by the Neo-Nazi, Hindu fundamentalist fascist party, the BJP! The world has changed. Punjab now has a cash paying, Gas-rich, Water-thirsty friendly customer - Pakistan - on the other side of the Wagah border! Therefore, Non-riparian Rajasthan, a freeloader ungrateful state, which does not allow Punjabis (read Sikhs) to buy agricultural land in its territory, must be made to pay for Punjab's river water or else.