The Tribune – Sukhbir accepts Hooda’s offer of talks on water disputes

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 9. The Punjab Government has welcomed the initiative by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for exploring a political solution to the water disputes pending for decades between the two states.

Sukhbir said, “I welcome the initiative of the Haryana Government. We are ready to sit together and solve the issues pertaining to water disputes. However, he did not divulge any details.”

Hooda had expressed his desire to solve the water issues with Punjab at a function held in Gurgaon yesterday.

Disputes relating to the Hansi-Butana canal, Dashmesh canal, Sutlej-Yamuna link canal and channelisation of the Ghaggar have been pending between the two states for the past several decades.

The Congress government in Punjab headed by the then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had, in 2004, annulled all water agreements between the two states by bringing in the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004.

It also resulted in termination of agreements related to the Ravi-Beas waters, which was signed by the chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in 1981. Haryana has long been maintaining that due to this, the state was not getting its share of 3.5 MAF of water due to non-completion of construction work on Sutlej-Yamuna link canal.

There is another dispute between the two states on the construction of Hansi-Butana canal by the Haryana Government. The apex court has stayed the linking of this canal with the Bhakra Management Line (BML) on a case filed by the Punjab Government.

Punjab went to the apex court because Haryana had gone to the Central Water Commission against the proposed Dashmesh canal, which was also to be linked with the BML and was meant to irrigate thousands of acres of land in Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130210/punjab.htm#1

The Tribune – Hansi-Butana; Canal key issue in flood-hit areas

Umesh Dewan, Tribune News Service

Dharmheri (Patiala), December 30. Braving the bone-chilling cold conditions and extremely low visibility on a foggy morning, the inhabitants of sleepy Dharmheri village, one of the most flood-prone villages alongside the Ghaggar on the Patiala-Kaithal state highway, were busy in their daily work, when The Tribune team reached the village. A hot debate over the coming Punjab Assembly elections was on in the village that suffered a lot of devastation during floods in 2010.

When asked about the most important election issue, the villagers, most of them middle-aged, said in unison, “Hansi-Butana canal and the under-construction wall. We have suffered a lot on account of floods and this time, we would not cast our votes to the ruling SAD-BJP combine on account of their utter failure to find any solution to the problem.”

Notably, the matter pertaining to the construction work of the 3.75-km toe-wall, alongside the Hansi-Butana canal embankment, is a burning issue among inhabitants of hundreds of villages, falling in the jurisdiction of the Shutrana, Samana and Ghanaur assembly segments of the Patiala district. Opposing the construction of the wall, SAD-BJP government had approached the Supreme Court but couldn’t get stay on the construction work.

Mohinder Kaur and Shimla Devi, both residents of Sassi Gujaran village, while narrating the tale of woes of the affected villages, said that the SAD ministers and senior leaders had promised to get the matter resolved and hogged media limelight, but nothing had been done to end the woes of the aggrieved villagers.

Because of the floods, villagers not only suffered financial losses on account of crop damage, but their houses developed cracks, cattle died, humans suffered from various health ailments and finding good match for youth became extremely difficult, the duo said.

A visit to nearby villages, including Hassanpur, Sassi Thay, Mangata, Ramnagar, Nawagaon and Sassi Brahmana, brought to light that it was the same story for everyone residing alongside the river Ghaggar. “Before taking any final decision, we will call a meeting of all the flood-prone villages and make a consensus to vote against the present government”, said Avtar Singh, a septuagenarian from Dharmheri village.

Expressing his views, Sukhchain Singh of Haripur village said, “When former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh kept insisting that the state government should approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get a stay on construction of the toe-wall, then why the SAD-BJP government failed to explore that option.”

Officials blame Haryana

Though the Ghaggar, known as the river of sorrow, has been bringing misfortune to several areas in Patiala district in the form of floods from the past more than a decade, but experts in the Punjab Drainage Department are of the view that construction of the Hansi-Butana canal had aggravated the problem.

According to the Punjab Irrigation Department reports after 2010 floods, Haryana started the work to strengthen embankment of the Hansi-Butana canal by constructing a toe-wall. The wall would ensure that there is no breach in the canal, in case Ghaggar river overflows and water from Punjab side hits Hansi-Butana canal. This would though save Haryana, but would leave hundreds of villages of Patiala and Sangrur flooded.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111231/punjab.htm#5