Chandigarh, May 1 (UNI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) not to indulge in theatrics on the extremely sensitive issue of Punjab’s river waters.

Badal said Mann should instead tell Punjabis why the AAP government had sold off the interests of the state by releasing 4,000 cusecs of water to Haryana a month back and failed to ward off release of another 8,500 cusecs now.

He said it was highly condemnable that instead of addressing the issue of desertification of Punjab and the blow to its farm economy, AAP was indulging in cheap ‘dharnas’ to deflect attention from the sellout of the State’s River waters by the Chief Minister.

“Not only did Bhagwant Mann admit in writing that Punjab had started releasing 4,000 cusecs of additional water to Haryana since the last one month, but also admitted that the Haryana chief minister had called him on April 23 and requested the release of another 8,000 cusecs of water," said Badal.

"Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has stated that Mann agreed to the demand. Instead of indulging in dramas now, Mann should tell us on whose direction and permission he had sold off the River waters of Punjab to Haryana? Punjabis never gave him permission to do so”, Badal added.

Asserting that the SAD would not allow the "conspiracy" by the neighbouring states and the Central Government to "rob" Punjab of its river waters - by "unilaterally forcing" the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release an additional 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana - to succeed, Badal said “this order should be revoked immediately as it has been given without taking the approval of the Punjab government as per the BBMB manual”.

The SAD president also demanded the immediate restoration of Punjab’s representative as the Member, Power of BBMB, saying BBMB had been "unfairly" reconstituted two years back and that Punjab had been discriminated against in the process of doing so.

“If even a drop of additional water which is above the quota fixed for Haryana leaves the state we will launch a mass agitation to protect the water rights o fPunjab. We will fight to the last breath but will never compromise our water rights," he added.

The SAD president also attacked the Congress for working "against" the state's interests.

“How the Haryana Congress has asked the Prime Minister to intervene and even revoke Article 257 and instruct the Punjab government to release additional water to Haryana is not in the interest of federalism and is also against the Riparian Principle”, said Badal, questioning why the Punjab Congress leadership was quiet on this issue and had not condemned the Haryana Congress for its incendiary statements till now.

Badal claimed Punjab did not have any water to give and that the SAD would safeguard the rights of the state's farmers who were already reeling from water shortages for irrigation needs.

“Punjab is staring at a crisis with water levels in the Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams being lower than last year’s levels. Any attempt to lower them further by releasing additional water to Haryana over and above its quota could spell catastrophe for Punjab”, he added. UNI GS SSP