All-party meet convened by Amarinder Singh passes resolution on Punjab's water crisis

An all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday demanded reassessment of the state's water availability and unanimously resolved that the Central government should ensure that Punjab river water will not be transferred from basin to non-basin areas of the state's three rivers.

"All parties also unanimously demanded suitable amendments to the proposed Inter-State River Water Disputes Act to set up a new tribunal, to ensure that Punjab gets adequate water in a just and equitable manner in keeping with its total demand and securing livelihood of the future generations," said the Chief Minister Office.

The resolution read, "Punjab does not have surplus water and is facing a threat of desertification with declining availability of its river water and fast depleting groundwater. State's groundwater that meets 73 per cent of its irrigation requirements, has declined to alarming levels, threatening the livelihood of farmers and other poor people."

"In such a situation, it is unanimously resolved that the Government of India should ensure that Punjab river water is not in any way transferred from basin to non-basin areas of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas as per internationally accepted riparian principle," it added.

The resolution was moved by Cabinet Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria at the all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister to ascertain ways to address the state's continuously aggravating water crisis.