AAP wants Punjab to seek water royalty from states

Punjab's main opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday demanded that the state government should implement a law passed by the state assembly asking other states to pay royalty to Punjab for taking water from it.

Senior legislators of the party, led by Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and its political associate, Lok Insaf Party, on Tuesday held a protest outside the Punjab Secretariat, asking the government to implement the resolution.

Khaira said that during the tenure of the last government, the issue of sharing Punjab water with Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi was raised and the assembly had then passed the resolution unanimously to demand royalty from these states.

"From then onwards, no action has been taken in this regard and the AAP and the LIP have decided to push the matter by holding peaceful protest," Khaira told media.

He said that as per the international riparian law, these states have to pay royalty for the water they have been using.

President of Lok Insaaf Party, Simarjeet Singh Bains, said that since 1965 Punjab has been sharing more than 12 million acre feet water with Rajasthan, that amounts to more than Rs 16 lakh crores, but no government has ever bothered to raise this issue with these states.

There has been no communication with the states after the resolution was passed by the assembly, he said.

"A signature campaign will be started soon to know which Punjab MLAs and MPs are in favour of this resolution," Bains said.

--IANS

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