Punjab govt 'boycotts' BBMB meeting

Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan had chaired a high-level meeting Friday in Delhi and advised to carry out the BBMB's decision to release 4,500 cusecs of extra water from Bhakra dams to Haryana for the next eight days to meet the state's urgent water requirements

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The stand-off between Punjab and Haryana over water sharing intensified Saturday as an all-party meeting in Haryana asked the AAP government in the neighbouring state to unconditionally release the water from Bhakra dam and the Punjab government skipped a Bhakra Beas Management Board meeting on the issue.

This came a day after an all-party meeting in Punjab backed the state government's refusal to release more water to BJP-ruled Haryana. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan had chaired a high-level meeting Friday in Delhi and advised to carry out the BBMB's decision to release 4,500 cusecs of extra water from Bhakra dams to Haryana for the next eight days to meet the state's urgent water requirements.

The BBMB regulates water distribution from Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams and decides the annual quota of water supply to the three partnering states - Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan - for a yearly cycle from May 21 to May 21 each year.