Rebel AAP MLAs, LIP members seeks royalty on Punjab water

Lok Insaf Party (LIP) and rebel AAP legislators today demanded that the Punjab government implement a resolution passed by the state assembly asking other states to pay royalty to Punjab for using river water.

Ousted Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, along with seven other legislators and two members of Lok Insaf Party, held a protest outside the assembly complex, asking the government to implement the resolution.

LIP member Simarjit Singh Bains, his brother MLA Balvinder Singh Bains and eight rebel AAP members said the issue of sharing Punjab water with Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi was raised during the previous Akali Dal-BJP government and the assembly had passed the resolution unanimously to demand royalty from these states.

"From then on, no action has been taken in this regard and AAP and the LIP have decided to push the matter by holding protest," Bains said.

According to the international riparian law, he said, these states have to pay royalty for taking river water.

Bains said Punjab has shared more than 12 million acre feet (MAF) water with Rajasthan since 1965, which amounted to more than Rs 16 lakh crore, but no government has bothered to raise this issue with the state.

"Farmers in Punjab have no other source of income... Punjab government can generate income by charging royalty for its water," he said.

In 2016, Punjab Assembly passed a resolution asking for royalty payment for Satluj-Yamuna water from its neighbouring states, including Rajasthan, giving another dimension to Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal dispute.

The Rajasthan government has refused to pay any royalty citing the 1981 agreement between states in the region.

In accordance with the 1981 agreement, drawn under the Congress rule, the share of water between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan was revised.

Following the agreement, the total share of Punjab was raised to 4.22 MAF, for Rajasthan it was raised to 8.6 MAF and Haryana's was unaltered at 17.17 MAF.