NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat appealed to his Punjab counterpart Beant Singh not to open Pandora’s Box by dragging Rajasthan into the river water dispute.
Shekhawat in an informal chat with reporters was reacting to a statement by Beant Singh that Rajasthan’s share in never waters should be reduced by 2 million acre feet (MAF) because it was unable to fully utilize water and suffered from the problem of water-logging.
The Rajasthan chief minister contested both the arguments. He stated that the water was being mainly used for the Indira Gandhi Canal which apart from promising prosperity to the vast desert of the state also had tremendous potential as India’s defence line against Pakistan He pointed out that 60% of the total area of the state was desert which needed to be checked from advancing towards Delhi This he opined could be done only by raising the water table in the state which depended on the water in the Indira Gandhi Canal.
Shekhawat and Punjab was even worse placed from the point of view of water logging. At certain places in Rajasthan it was a temporary problem because the state badly needed water he stated.
He said it was not justified to make Rajasthan a party to a dispute which was essentially between Punjab and Haryana
The chief minister referred to the current controversy over the Sirhind feeder closure. He regretted that the Punjab Government had written to him that the closure could be permitted only if his government agreed to annul the inter-state agreement _ of May 101984. This agreement provided for a reference to the Supreme Court for its opinion.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 5, 1992
