Capt Amarinder rejects Central Water Commission contention on Hansi-Butana canal

Monday, 22/08/2011

http://my.amarindersingh.in/capt-amarinder-rejects-central-water-commission-contention-on-hansi-butana-canal

CHANDIGARH, August 22: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today rejected the preliminary report of the Central Water Commission (CWC) submitted to the Supreme Court of India which said, Hansi-Butana canal and toe wall posed no flood threat to Punjab. He said, the report seems to have been prepared without any ground root assessment of the situation.

Capt Amarinder in a letter to the Chairman CWC, said, “It does not require any engineering expertise, but simple common sense, to make out how much danger is posed by the toe wall along the canal and this could lead to disaster and devastation in hundreds of Punjab villages if there are floods”. He remarked, rather the toe wall has added to the danger of floods since it will block all the extra water from taking its natural course and push it back towards Punjab.

Elaborating further, he pointed out, the Hansi-Butana Canal runs from West to East while Ghaggar and Tangri flow from North to South. “The construction of the canal itself has led to the blockade of the water from these two rivers and now a concrete toe wall will further block the water that will ultimately be pushed back towards Punjab”, he asserted, while adding, “the canal and the under construction toe wall will permanently block the waters thus creating a sort of dam like situation. Once there are floods it will cause lot of devastation towards Punjab”. Rejecting the report, the PCC President said, “this is quite ridiculous and unacceptable as the CWC seems to have either no idea of the ground reality or has deliberately overlooked the ground situation”. He said, the floods were caused even when there was no canal or the toe wall and now with the canal banks, the water will not have any outlet except that it will be pushed back towards Punjab thus flooding large parts of the state.

Expressing his doubts about the veracity of the report, he said, “I doubt whether any of the CWC members or experts visited the actual site before preparing the preliminary report that you submitted before the Honourable Supreme Court of India”. He observed, had anybody been to the spot, the report would be quite contrary to what has been submitted before the Apex court.

Suggesting to the commission to depute a high powered team consisting of experts to have an on the spot assessment of the situation, he said, “I am sure you will be convinced that our concern is well justified and there is an imminent threat of floods in Punjab if the toe wall is completed”