The Financial Express 10.12.2010
Punjab refuses to share water with ChandigarhThe Punjab government has refused to share water with Chandigarh as it has come out with a Rs 316-crore project to bring additional 40 million gallons of water a day from Kajauli waterworks.
NK Sharma, chairman, Mohali District Planning Board, told FE here on Friday that “work on the Kajauli project would begin soon and water augmentation would exclusively be for Mohali and upon completion, Mohali would not face shortage of water supply for the next 20 years”.
With this the water war between Chandigarh, a union territory and Punjab is set to intensify in the months to come because of impending elections to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh and the Punjab Assembly scheduled for 2011 and 2012. Water has been a major issue in the past between Punjab and Haryana with Punjab demanding royalty over waters that flow to neighbouring states.
However, this is first time that water sharing issue has assumed new proportions between Punjab and Chandigarh, which besides a union territory is also the capital of Punjab. Punjab has already made its stand clear on the plea that “in view of the critical situation of water supply in Mohali, it is not possible for the Punjab Government to agree to share water of Phases V and VI on the pattern of the first four phases of Kajauli water works.”
Union Water Resources Minister and MP from Chandigarh, Pawan Kumar Bansal has reportedly termed “the denial of additional water to UT by Punjab unjustified as a majority of people living in Chandigarh are from Punjab. Not only that the Punjab Government has its offices, including the Assembly and the secretariat, in Chandigarh”.
Punjab Government has held the view that Chandigarh had misrepresented facts while seeking a grant of Rs 171 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for Kajauli water supply scheme. “Punjab will not be allowed to become a poor cousin of Chandigarh. The Union Territory of Chandigarh has a surplus of nine million gallons daily (MGD) as compared to the requirement of 58 MGD. On the other hand Mohali is suffering from a deficit of ten MGD. The requirement is 23 MGD whereas 13 MGD is being received”.
The Punjab Government claims that Mohali is getting 13 million gallons per day (MGD) of water against a requirement of 23 MGD. In sharp contrast, Chandigarh is being supplied 87 MGD as against a requirement of 70 MGD. The Chandigarh Administration, however, claimed that after the completion of the Phases V and VI of the Kajauli project, a total of 40 MGD would be provided to Mohali.
