There has been a welcome change in Punjab. Most political parties. have now a better appreciation of the long neglected water issue, ‘There was a period when the Indian central government quietly planned and executed a canal network for Haryana areas and for Rajasthan after neglecting Punjab’s requirements and rights, and took away as much as 65% of Punjab rivers’ water to the neighboring states. There was no protest from the Punjab people and their political parties, a section of Sikh intelligentsia woke up in the past 1015 years to find that the Indian central government had trampled upon the constitutional provisions to loot Punjab’s water wealth. A hue and cry was raised by a section of the non Akall intelligentsia. Normally, Akalis who pretend to be leaders of Sikhs and Punjab should have risen to the occasion but they were the ones who really betrayed the interests of Sikhs and Punjab. Tn 195560, the then Akali leaders joined hands with Congress to acquire land for the Rajasthan canal and the Bhakra mainline canal and dig up these canals for Rajasthan and the Haryana areas, Again in 198587, the Akalis signed the Rajiv Longowal accord which provided for completion of the Sutlej Yamuna link canal and the Bamala ed Akali government carried out as much as 80% of the ‘work on the project.

In the current election, the Akali Dal (Badal) has formulated a manifesto which promises to dismantle the S.Y.L. canal. The party would also strive to keep all the water to be used by Punjab which now is flowing to Rajasthan and Haryana. The Mann Dal, too, is talking of asserting the rights of the people of Punjab to their rivers. The BKU headed by Ajmer Singh Lakhowal and the Panthic Council backed by Jagmeet Singh Bra have done a lot to focus on the water issue. The BJP’s Punjab unit, too, has taken note of the sensibilities of the people to the water issue. It has incorporated certain stands on the issue in the party’s manifesto released early this week by party Pradesh Balramji Doss Tandon. He says that the BJP would like only the surplus water to be taken to the neighboring states after meeting the requirements of Punjab. Tandon also says that the water going to Pakistan should be put to better use.

The BJP’s statement stands on fictions and not on facts. Has Tandon ever assessed the water requirements of Punjab? Does he not know that at least 4,000 of the 12,000 Punjab villages still do not get drinking water fit for human consumption? Where will the water come from for the people’s needs? Only from rivers. Also, is the BJP aware of the fact that Punjab’s towns do not get drinking water supply for more than 46 hours daily? And this is only because the tube wells installed in towns do not have adequate underground water and the only obvious source left to be tapped are the rivers. Tandon should also know that more than 20% of Punjab does ‘not get irrigation facilities, even where nominal facilities are available, at least 80% of the area is irrigated not by canals but by costly tube wells. Why should Punjab farmers not get more canals and dispense with tube wells which are draining Punjab’s scarce underground water? In addition, does the BJP know that the existing canaled areas get grossly inadequate and infrequent Supplies? Is Tandon aware of the fact that water is not readily available for industry and the state’s future requirements for industry alone will consume all the existing flows of Punjab rivers water? It is necessary to mention here that the entire water of European rivers is consumed by industries alone. As such, Punjab cannot afford to spare even an ounce of water for its neighbors; The BJP has raised a baseless bogey of water flowing into Pakistan, and has tried to inject communalism into an economic issue. No useable Punjab water at present flows into Pakistan, whatever water flows across Pakistan, it does during the Monsoon’s when Punjab’s farmers themselves do not need any such water. Besides, these flows are a curse to the people of Pakistan, rather than being a boon to them, because the unwanted flows destroy their crops and houses, Certain flows are inevitable so long as the dam remains unfinished; work on which started some 30 years ago. Besides, why should the neighbors is allowed to use the water now allegedly flowing into Pakistan? Why not Punjab? These questions must be posed to the BJP. Will the Akalis do that? Unlikely, so long as the Akali leadership uses the water issue more as election rhetoric rather than a serious question of Sikhs and Punjab’s rights.

Article extracted from this publication >>  April 17, 1996