Chandigarh, June 20 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab on Friday questioned Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s remarks that “we will not give water from the Indus River to Punjab” and accused him of deliberately politicising the issue.

AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said the authority to decide on river waters lies with the Central government, and Omar Abdullah cannot take a unilateral decision on this matter.

He emphasised that Punjab needs water and, therefore, Punjab should also get a share of the Indus River water, adding that during the war with Pakistan, the Indian government had decided to annul the Indus Water Treaty.

“Now, it is the Indian government’s responsibility to appropriately distribute the remaining water and give Punjab its rightful share,” he said.

Garg pointed out that like Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab is also a border state. “Whenever war occurs, Punjab becomes the battleground. And when the country needs food grains, it becomes the granary of the nation. Now that there is water available, Punjab has a legitimate claim over it.”

He highlighted that Punjab needs water today, as most of its regions have entered the dark zone.

“In the process of filling the nation’s granaries, we have been deprived of our own water. Now that the Indus Water Treaty has been annulled, Punjab has the primary right over this water because it will not only bring relief to our barren lands but also boost our agriculture. When farmers prosper, the nation prospers,” he said.

Garg added that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also stated, after the annulment of the Indus Treaty, that Punjab should receive a share of the water that is being prevented from flowing to Pakistan.

“Therefore, the government of India must consider this matter,” he said.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also expressed surprise at Omar Abdullah’s statement. In a statement, former Minister and senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said what Omar Abdullah was demanding was another attempt to do injustice to Punjab.

He said that while filling the food bowl of the country, Punjab had lost its groundwater, which had fallen to alarming levels.

He said the quantity of water in rivers had also gone down substantially, adding that the farmers of Punjab had taken huge debt on their shoulders to fulfil the food requirement of the country.

Earlier, speaking on constructing a canal by the government of India to divert excess water from three rivers of the Indus system in Jammu and Kashmir to Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, Chief Minister Abdullah cited the 45-year-old Shahpur Kandi barrage dispute with Punjab and asked, “Did they give us water?”

–IANS

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