Punjab government approaches Indian Supreme court against the planned ‘highway robbery’ by state of Haryana to steal Punjab’s water from the Bhakra mainline canal via the nearly complete illegal Hansi-Butana canal dug inside Haryana territory

Indian Water Resources ministry working on conspiracy to nationalize Sutlej & Beas rivers within the next four weeks

Conspiracy brewing against Punjab in Delhi and Haryana



Washington, D.C., Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - Punjab Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal (after going back on his election promise to scrap section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act-2004) has filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) with the Indian Supreme Court, last week, against the construction of the nearly complete illegal 109-km long multi-purpose Hansi-Butana canal by Haryana (which has been built to steal additional water from the Bhakra mainline canal which feeds Southern Punjab and Rajasthan) inside its’ territory. Badals’ action of going to the Indian Supreme Court – which acts like a Kangaroo court in matters effecting Sikhs – is an act of futility.  Typical Badal window dressing and double talk one can say!

According to media reports (> http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070712/main10.htm  <) the Punjab government has taken the legal step, of petitioning the Supreme Court, after registering repeated protests with BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) the Central government and Haryana against the planned ‘highway robbery’ of water-short Punjabs’ river waters via the new Hansi-Butana water channel. The Punjab state government has, according to the Tribune newspaper, asked Punjab Advocate-general, Hardev Singh Mattewal, to take all legal measures to stall the construction of the 109-km Hansi-Butana multi-purpose illegal link channel meant to siphon water – without permission and without payment of any royalty or charge - from the Bhakra Main Line (BML) canal (> http://travel.sulekha.com/Mumbai/photos/16399.htm?idx=2  <) to the Western Yamuna canal in Haryana. (For a background on the new Hansi-Butana canal see Khalistan Calling, dated 06 June, 2007, headlined, “Delhi and Haryana conspire to steal Punjab’s river water, with timely help from the ‘Sirsa Baba smoke screen’, via the nearly complete illegal Hansi-Butanna canal” by clicking at: >  http://khalistan-affairs.org/home/khalistancalling/2007/june06.aspx < also see Khalistan Calling dated 26 October, 2005, headlined, “Non-ripariam Haryana to start work on a Sirsa-Hansi canal which will flout the 'Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004' by tapping into Ravi-Beas waters via the Bhakra main line canal,” by clicking at:> /home/khalistancalling/2005/october26.aspx   <) The Punjab Advocate General, Hardev Singh Mattewal, is quoted as saying that Punjabs’ Special Leave Petition (SLP) was expected to be taken up shortly by the Supreme Court. The report also mentions that a senior Punjab minister had blamed Union minister for Water Resources, Saifuddin Soz, for, ‘adopting double standards for justifying the construction of the Hansi-Butana canal, while opposing construction of the Dasmesh canal in Punjab’. Saifuddin Soz is up to much more mischief than that!

Our sources in Delhi report that the Indian Water Resources ministry (Saifuddin Soz minister) is preparing a proposal for declaring the Sutlej, Beas and a few other rivers in other states of India as ‘national’ rivers despite the fact that river waters is a state subject under the Indian constitution. This proposal to ‘nationalize’ Punjabs’ two rivers - Sutlej and Beas – is scheduled to be taken up by the central cabinet in Delhi within the next four weeks. This vile conspiracy against Punjab, and its’ people, will most probably be synchronized with Haryanas’ illegal fait accompli - the completion of the illegal 109-km long multi-purpose Hansi-Butana canal.

Reliable inside sources in the Punjab Irrigation department and BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) have confirmed the suspicion of some Punjabi engineers, that recently extra water was being released into the Bhakra Mainline canal (which was reported to have had a capacity of 6772 cusecs, at the Haryana contact point, when it was built) to test its capacity to carry extra water in anticipation of the ‘needs’ of the illegal Hansi-Butana canal which will siphon water from the Bhakra Mainline in Haryana territory. It is obvious that a deep conspiracy is brewing (between Congress-ruled Haryana, BBMB and the Dr. Manmohan Singh led Congress government in Delhi) to steal some more of water-short Punjabs’ river water resource and deny this God-given bounty to the future generations of Punjabis.

Mr. Badal better make note that Punjab CANNOT allow Haryana to succeed in the above mentioned triad conspiracy (Haryana, BBMB and the federal water resources ministry) as other factors already threaten the water resources of the Sikh Homeland of Punjab. The factors that threaten Punjabs’ water resource - surface & underground – and which will destroy its agricultural economy in the future, is the ever-increasing (artificial) shortage of water caused by the arbitrary and excessive robbery of its river water, for the past four decades, by non-riparian states like Rajasthan and Haryana. These states have been siphoning more water (free of charge via the Pong, Bhakra Nangal and other dams and link canals) than has been allowed to be retained for the farmers of riparian Punjab – Indias’ granary. Thus, Punjab has had to resort to excessive tube well farming as an alternative, with the result that it has pushed Punjab’s underground water table ever deeper to very dangerous levels. In a few years more if this unhealthy exploitive practice continues it will turn Punjab into a desert when the underground water table gets pushed further down. The underground water is also getting contaminated and is not being sufficiently replenished by the waters of the Beas and Sutlej rivers.

Just a day after being sworn in as Punjab Chief minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal told reporters at the gathering at the Hola Mohalla celebration on 3 March, 2007, that, “I will scrap Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004”. He further said it was a pre-election promise to amend the Section which allows sharing of water with Haryana and Rajasthan to continue. Hence, the Act is only effectively applicable for future agreements and the SYL canal. Asked if the neighboring states would feel agitated, Badal shot back, by saying: “We are the riparian state and that is what I have been saying for the past so many years.” (>  http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070304/main1.htm <) Readers may recall that this Punjab Termination of Agreement Act-2004, which was passed, on July 12, 2004, is a state law which legally nullified (under the Indian constitution ‘river water’ is a state subject) all unequal agreements (like the Sutlej-Yumna Link known as the SYL canal) on sharing of Punjab's river waters. Section 5 of the Act generously guarantees that Punjab will NOT interfere or stop or reduce the quantum of the current gratis (free of charge) siphoning of Punjab river waters, which has been going on for decades, by non-riparian states of Haryana and Rajasthan. Despite Punjab’s fair and generous promise the Indian President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on July 22, 2004, sought the Indian Supreme Court’s advisory opinion on the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act-2004 which abrogates some unequal water-sharing agreements (read understandings – like SYL - made under duress by weaklings representing Punjab) with its neighboring states.

Three weeks  later on 28 March,, 2007, to Punjab Chief ministers’Badals’ eternal shame, the then Punjab Counsel, Rajiv Dhavan, told a Supreme Court Bench (during a brief hearing on Haryana's plea for early hearing of a presidential reference of 22 July 2004, against the validity of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act 2004) that, “Punjab would stand by Section 5 and all the terms of the agreement will be honored with regard to the water-sharing accord with the neighboring states as protected under the provisions of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act-2004”. As a result of the above about face this column, dated 04 April, 2007, was headlined, “BADAL'S VOLTE-FACE on election promise to scrap section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act-2004 about distribution of Punjab’s river water- Shame on him.” (> http://khalistan-affairs.org/home/khalistancalling/2007/april04.aspx <)

At this point in time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is again reminded that filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) with the Indian Supreme Court does not amount to a hill of beans to stop the conspiracy which is taking the shape of the Hansi-Butana canal siphon. Badal is reminded of his election promise that he will scrap Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004, which Act was passed unanimously by the Punjab State Assembly during the tenure of Captain Amrinder Singhs’ Chief ministership. Just a day after being sworn in as Punjab Chief minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal told reporters at the gathering at the Hola Mohalla celebration on 3 March, 2007, that, “I will scrap Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004”. He further said it was a pre-election promise to amend the Section which allows sharing of water with Haryana and Rajasthan to continue. Carrying out the pre-election promise of terminating Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 is the best option even today.

The legal action in the Supreme Court, WITHOUT some synchronized muscular action on the ground – which shows intent, political will and outrage - will impress no one, least of all the Haryana state government, BBMB or the Indian Union minister of water resources, Saifuddin Soz or the Indian Supreme Court which is a Kangaroo Court as far as the Sikhs are concerned. The idea that comes to mind is that, ‘what is good for the goose is also good for the gander’. If non-riparian Haryana can illegally tap into the Bhakra Mainline canal in its territory why can’t Punjab farmers do the same? They can tap the South bank of the Bhakra Mainline canal in Punjab territory in umpteen places and siphon water to recharge the depleted underground water of the ‘dry’ Southern districts of the Sikh Homeland of Punjab like Patiala.    

Punjabi politicians like Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal ought to remember the warning, carried seven years ago, in the last paragraph of the Khalistan Calling, dated April 14, 1999, (www.khalistan-affairs.org/khalistancalling/1999/april14.aspx) that, “any dereliction of duty, or compromise, or conspiracy by any Punjabi politician on the river water issue which effects our children, and their children, is an unforgivable and punishable offence in any language, in any country, of the world especially in the Sikh Homeland of the Punjab!” These words are true even today.