Water share agreement: Centre defends Haryana

In the report submitted to the apex court, the CWC also dismissed apprehensions raised by Punjab Government that the ongoing construction of an irrigational water channel known as “Hansi Butana branch of the multipurpose link channel”, being built by Haryana off Bhakhra canal, would lead to inundation of land in Punjab.

The bench asked the three states — Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana — to file their response on the CWC report.

Haryana is building a 20-km-long water channel off Bhakhra canal to irrigate the farming land and wants to perforate Bhakhra main line canal near Ajimgarh village in Kaithal district to draw water for the channel from the canal.

The channel, running from west to east, adjoining the territory of Punjab, is to have 10.2-foot-high embankment for its first 11 kilometre, which would taper to a 7-foot height along its subsequent 9-km run.

The CWC carried a technical appraisal of the said irrigational project acting on the court’s directive on a petition filed by Punjab objecting to the project. Later, Rajasthan, too, had joined the issue contending that like Punjab, its own water share too would go down owing to the Haryana irrigational project.

The Punjab Government had contended that the construction of the embankment for the water channel would obstruct free flow of surface water and would result in flooding its territory. The water deluge, in turn, would result in submergence of 20,756 acres of Punjab land in 32 villages and displacement of over 100,000 people in the state.

Punjab has contended that even the farming land, which Haryana proposed to irrigate by the channel, is not the part of the areas identified for irrigation in the Bhakhra Nangal Agreement of 1959.

Rajasthan has also submitted that its water share has shrunk from 0.9 cusec feet to 0.7 cusec feet during the peak agricultural season. It would further come down if Haryana is allowed to draw water from the canal after perforating it.