Chandigarh, May 22 – Irrigation and Water Resources Minister, Smt. Shruti Choudhry said that a technical committee meeting of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) was held on May 15, in which 10,300 cusecs of water were allocated to Haryana. The state of Haryana submitted a demand letter on May 19 to the Executive Engineer of BML Patiala, requesting the release of the allocated water at the Haryana contact points, 3,600 cusecs at RD 160000’ of Narwana Branch and 6,700 cusecs at RD 390000’ of BML. The next day, the Executive Engineer of BML Patiala forwarded the demand letter to BBMB. On May 21, BBMB began increasing water flow in the Nangal Hydel Channel from Lohand at 1:35 PM, as per the operations manual.
The Minister further informed that out of the 10,300 cusecs reaching Haryana’s contact point, 3,600 cusecs would be released into the Narwana Branch, which would fulfil the needs of Jind, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Jhajjar, and southern districts of Haryana through the WJC system.
The remaining 6,700 cusecs received at RD 390000’ of BML will be supplied to meet the demands of Hisar, Sirsa, and Fatehabad districts through the Barwala Link Channel and the tail end of the BML group, she informed.
Smt. Shruti Choudhry said that after the water reaches the state, there will be no shortage of water from Friday onward, and the needs for both drinking water and irrigation will be met. She also accused the Punjab Chief Minister of politicizing the water issue, stating that Haryana also has historical records of water allocations from BBMB and urged Punjab not to deny Haryana its rightful share.
The Minister praised the central government’s decision to hand over dam security to the CISF, calling it a positive step.
