(Dr Daljit S Cheema says SAD would not allow this conspiracy to succeed and would take every recourse possible to prevent the release of even one drop of water to Haryana)
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to tell Punjabis whether the guarantee given by Delhi Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha mp Sushil Gupta on behalf of the party that Punjab’s river waters would flow to each and every field in Haryana had been given with his blessings. Terming the development as shocking, senior SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said “the Delhi MP, who is from Haryana, could have only given such an iron clad guarantee if he had been authorized to do so by AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal.
The issue is whether the Punjab chief minister was taken in the loop or not. Mr Bhagwant Mann should make his stand clear on this issue immediately as Punjabis will never allow AAP to barter away its core interests for electoral gains in Haryana ”. Asserting that AAP was showing its true colours, Dr Cheema said “it seems this party can betray anyone, even crores of Punjabis who gave it an overwhelming mandate by electing 92 of its legislators to the State assembly. It is only one month since this victory and already AAP is taking Punjabis for granted by announcing that it would give away the river waters of the State to Haryana.
It seems AAP is bent upon sprinkling salt on the wounds of Punjabis who are yet to come to terms with the snatching of their river waters by the Congress earlier”. Stating that the SAD would never allow this conspiracy to succeed, Dr Cheema said “our river waters are our life blood. We have always maintained that we do not have one extra drop of water to spare. Much of our own land is facing the brunt of water shortage with 109 out of the 138 blocks in the State being put in the red zone due to declining water table. The SAD has led agitations to protect the river waters of the State.
This includes the Kapoori Morcha as well as challenging the validity of Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganization Act which was interpreted to give control of Punjab’s river waters to the centre by then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in 1979. The SAD led government also handed back the land which was acquired for construction of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal back to farmers in 2016. Even now we are committed to take every recourse possible to ensure not a single drop of water is released to Haryana. We will not let our land be turned into a desert”.
Stating that the Delhi mp had also reiterated the position of his party on the issue of SYL, Dr Cheema said “Arvind Kejriwal has earlier gone on record to state that water should be released to Haryana by Punjab. The AAP government had earlier even filed an affidavit in this regard in the Supreme Court. This latest declaration by the Delhi mp makes it clear that AAP is following an anti-Punjab line on the issue of river waters and wants Punjab’s waters to be released to Haryana and Delhi. The real face of AAP is before Punjabis now”, Dr Cheema added.
