AAP, LIP stage protest on river water issue

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its ally in Punjab, the Lok Insaf Party (LIP), today staged a protest in front of the civil secretariat here, demanding that the Congress government in the state implemented a resolution passed by the Assembly on the issue of river water royalty.
The AAP is the main opposition party in the state.
MLAs of the two parties, including Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Simarjeet Singh Bains, Aman Arora, Balwinder Singh Bains and Kanwar Sandhu, took part in the stir.
Addressing the media, Khaira said during the previous SAD-BJP regime, the Bains brothers had raised the issue of sharing Punjab's river waters with Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi and that the Assembly had then unanimously passed a resolution to demand royalty from these states.

"From then onwards, no action has been taken in this regard and the AAP and LIP have decided to push the matter by holding peaceful protests," Khaira said.
He added that as per the international riparian law, these states had to pay royalty on the water used by them.
LIP president Simarjeet Singh Bains said Punjab had been sharing over 12 million acre feet of water with Rajasthan since 1965, the cost of which had been worked out at Rs 16 lakh crore.
"But no government has ever bothered to take up this issue with these states," he added.