Punjab: Bajwa demands dismissal of Water Resources Minister, suspension of secy

Bajwa said, “Till the investigation is completed into cause of floods, the minister should be removed from the Cabinet and the officer should be put under suspension.” Without naming him, Bajwa also sought the suspension of Chief Engineer of canals. He also raised the absence of Krishan Kumar from the officers’ gallery in the House and asked how come the officer was not there when the Vidhan Sabha was undertaking a debate on rehabilitation under the title Punjab Da Punarvaas.

Bajwa said that the Rangla Punjab Fund was set up on the lines of PM Cares and would not be in the purview of RTI Act. He asked the people to donate in CM Relief Fund instead so that the account of money spent can be sought under RTI.

Seeking an account of the money lying in State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is claiming that the government has Rs 12,000 crore lying with it. “Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema are claiming that Rs 1,500 crore has been deposited in the Disaster Management Fund,” he said.

Invoking a CAG report tabled in the House on March 31, 2013, Bajwa said that the government had Rs 9,041 crore during this period. He said either the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister was lying.

Asked by Speaker Kultar Sandhwan to second the resolution tabled by the water resources minister condemning BJP led Centre for announcing Rs 1,600 crore assistance, Bajwa questioned Goyal about Rs 270 crore claimed by him to have been spent on strengthening the infrastructure to prevent floods. He said the Water Resources Minister had claimed that 8,000 kilometers of drains had been cleaned. But neither the drains were cleaned nor the dams were strengthened.

He added that CM Mann and Chief Secretary (KAP Sinha) are equally responsible for the floods. “Despite the Meteorological Department already issuing a warning of an over average rainfall, the government was caught napping. The Chief Minister held a meeting on June 6, and the monsoon arrived on June 24,” he said.

Raising an Indian Express report in the Assembly, Bajwa said it mentioned how after the 2019 floods, a 2020 government report had warned that Punjab’s rivers contained over 7,000 lakh MT of sand and gravel, enough to increase water-carrying capacity by 15,000–50,000 cusecs if removed. He said it was not removed.

Bajwa said the government was now cleverly shifting its responsibility to the central government. He also raised the hospitalisation of the CM on day the Prime Minister visited Punjab. He said the blame was being shifted on BBMB but the ruling dispensation had no answers when it was confronted that Ranjit Sagar Dam is under the Punjab government’s control. On August 24, the water level in the dam was 524.79 meters against a total capacity of 528 meters. Water was not released in time and later it caused floods.

He asked when the compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre, announced by the CM would be given to the farmers.

He said floods were witnessed in the past also but it had happened for the first time that the floodgates were washed away.