Chandigarh, May 16 (IANS) Punjab Cabinet Minister Barinder Goyal has presented the state’s concerns, interests and rights before the Central government at a meeting on the completion of 50 years of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

In a statement on Saturday, he said he raised the state’s concerns at the meeting, but also made it clear that Punjab will not allow any encroachment on its rights.

Expressing his first and foremost concern during the meeting, Goyal said that since the establishment of BBMB, there has been a system under which the Power (Electricity) Member is appointed from Punjab and the Irrigation Member from Haryana.

“This has been an established tradition for the past 50 years. However, on April 13, the Central government amended the rules and introduced a provision stating that the member can now be from anywhere, while Punjab and Haryana would only be given preference,” he said.

Goyal questioned that when this arrangement had been functioning smoothly for decades without any complaint, what was the need for this change?

“The word ‘preference’ creates serious concern in the minds of Punjabis; the decades-old traditional structure should be continued as it is.”

Opposing the Centre’s stand on the security issue, he objected to the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

He said that the Punjab Police is a highly capable and globally respected force, which made immense sacrifices, along with their families, for the integrity of the nation during the period of terrorism.

“The security of our dams has always been handled by the Punjab Police from the very beginning. Even today, the security of Ranjit Sagar Dam and Shahpur Kandi Dam, located near the border, is being managed by the Punjab Police. In such a situation, what is the logic behind deploying CISF in BBMB complexes? When no partner state had any objection to the security arrangements by the Punjab Police, then such interference by the Central government goes against the spirit of federalism,” said Goyal.

Referring to Punjab’s generosity on the issue of water, the Cabinet Minister said that Punjab has never backed away from its responsibilities.

“Even at the cost of losing its precious groundwater, the state has been happily providing every partner state with its rightful share of water.”

He said that since the rivers flow through Punjab, Punjab maintains them and Punjab alone bears the losses during floods; therefore, Punjab should get priority in decisions related to storing and managing water in the dams. Punjab must be given its due place in every important decision of BBMB because the primary responsibility of managing the water lies with Punjab.

Expressing surprise over Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s statement alleging some ‘lapse’ on Punjab’s part as the reason for deploying CISF, Goyal said Punjab has committed no lapse; rather, Punjab has only guarded its rights.

He clarified that under the fixed arrangement of water distribution, Haryana had already used up its share of water in March itself last year, and thereafter, it wanted to take Punjab’s share of water, which Punjab opposed.

“Haryana had been repeatedly advised to use water carefully, but it failed to pay attention to it,” the minister added.

–IANS

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