Activists fighting to protect Beas River’s course in HC see hope amid AAP’s friction with Dera Radha Soami chief

In an apparent reference to Dhillon, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning: “Whether they become a judge today or tomorrow, God alone can protect justice in the courts when a visitor himself turns into the judge.”

Earlier, Mann’s close associate Baltej Pannu had said that the Dera chief should not have acted like a judge and passed judgment. “We respect the head of Dera Beas. There are many followers of Dera Beas all over the world. But with due respect, I want to say that the head of such a large Dera should, at the very least, not have gone to meet someone in jail,” Pannu had stated.

20-year battle to ‘protect Beas River’s course’

For the last two decades, Punjab Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society president Baldev Singh Sirsa has been running a campaign to protect the Beas River’s natural course near the Dera’s premises. The next hearing on a petition in the matter is due to come up before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday.

Commenting on Sirsa’s petition, the high court had on June 30, 2024, directed the Punjab government to address long-standing concerns over a bandh (embankment) constructed by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (Dera Beas) along the river, which petitioners claimed was causing severe erosion of agricultural land in Kapurthala district.

In observations during the hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the court noted evidence from Google Maps spanning from 1985 to 2022, showing how the embankment diverted the river flow to the left bank, leading to rapid erosion on the right side in Dhilwan. “We have been shown the Google Maps from the year 1985 onwards to the year 2022…as to how on account of the construction of the bandh the water has got diverted to the left side of the river and is causing rapid erosion on the other side and depleting away agricultural land,” the court had stated.

The bench also highlighted a potential conflict of interest, pointing to an airport within Dera Beas premises that appears to benefit from the construction, with runway extensions into the floodplain. Photographs of heavy machinery were cited as evidence of ongoing works.
The court referenced a 2024 report by the Bholath sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), warning of land loss in Dhilwan during floods due to river shrinkage from “illegal operations.”

It also invoked a 2005 joint inspection report by the Jalandhar Division Commissioner, which documented 2,403 acres eroded and a threat to 1,400 acres of cultivable land. The report accused Dera Beas of diverting the river under the guise of ‘kar-sewa,’ with government permission to lift sand solely for filling low-lying areas on the left bank—no sales or construction use allowed.

The counsel for the petitioner argued over jurisdictional issues as the construction was in Amritsar district while the erosion affected Kapurthala.

The court ordered the state of Punjab to decide on the petitioner’s 2015 representation, factoring in the 2005 report’s directives to halt unwarranted activities, conduct land records (girdawri) of the affected Brahmadegi land, and stop mining in public interest. “Thus, the recommendation in the report was that any sort of such unwarranted activity was to be stopped immediately in public interest,” the court emphasised.

‘Google Maps don’t lie’

“The change in the river course is visible with the naked eye. Both Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Congress governments protected Dera Beas, and officials have habitually been looking away from the change occurring in the river’s course. Google Maps don’t lie. There is no natural change in course. As the AAP has seen through the Dera’s agenda and its open support to SAD(B) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, we hope the government will also look at the river and save it from the apathy of officials,” Sirsa added.

Pursuing the petition and unsatisfied with the AAP government’s action on the court order, Sirsa filed a contempt plea against the authorities for violating the court direction. Reacting to this contempt order, the Department of Soil and Water Conservation submitted in court that the petition did not relate to the department.

Officials, including the SDMs of Baba Bakala and Kapurthala and those from the Department of Water Resources, visited the spot and submitted a report to the court in December 2024 stating that some area was found to be silted up along the boundary of Dera Beas, upstream of the river. “Dera authorities had placed some bags temporarily along this silted-up area. These bags also appeared to be old,” read the report submitted in the high court. The report said no marks of any fresh mining nor any new spur, stud or permanent structure was found along the internal boundaries of Dera Beas.

Contrary to the official report, Google Map images of the river alongside the Dera premises clearly show a large chunk of well-organised land coming up and the river going away from Dera Beas’s boundary between 2023 and 2025.