Cong warns against ‘robbing’ of state water
Friday, 03/04/2015
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=128024&boxid=58364&uid=&dat=2015-04-03
AMARINDER, JAKHAR SAY WATER ISSUE CAN TURN PuNJAB INTO TINDERBOX
Chandigarh : Congress leaders from Punjab on Thursday warned the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the SAD-BJP government in the state against what they alleged ‘robbing’ Punjab of its waters. “For God’s sake please don’t open this pandora’s box as it has the potential of turning Punjab into a tinderbox”, they warned the Central and state governments.
Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sunil Jakhar, besides other senior leaders and legislators, expressed strong
apprehensions that the “BJP had discovered certain weaknesses of the state leaders, particularly the ruling party and now it was trying to exploit these weaknesses and forcing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to succumb to its pressures and accept its diktats”.
Addressing après conference, here this evening, they pointed out that “the state leaders were badly cornered on certain issues. Now, in order to save their skin they were ready to reach a compromise
and accept the terms and conditions about the SYL which are grossly against Punjab”.
Amarinder recalled how without caring about the political consequences and risking his government he had enacted the Punjab Termination of Water Agreement Act 2004 to save Punjab’s waters. “And now the state leaders for the obvious reasons cited above was mortgaging these interests which I will not allow at any cost”, Amarinder and Jakhar alleged.
They said that they will not be surprised if and when the state agrees to the terms and conditions of the SYL as it had already “shown its weakness by going along with the BJP in supporting the anti-farmer amendments in the Land Acquisition Act in the Parliament, although publicly Badal had adopted a contrary posture”.
They further alleged that state had ‘failed’ to get any compensation for the farmers neither about the widespread suicides and nor for the recent damage to the wheat due to unseasonal rains. “The state leaders’ sole purpose remains personal power and survival of his government even if it meant giving away Punjab’s interests in the final trade off”, they said.
“Come what may, today we warn the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti not to fiddle with fire lest it would spiral out of everybody’s control”, they said, while warning of a mass uprising and agitation all over Punjab whose consequences shall be the responsibility of both the Central and the state governments.
