Punjab CM hits out at BBMB, BJP amid water-sharing row

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre will be held responsible if violence breaks out over the ongoing water dispute.

- Karam Prakash

PATIALA:

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, for the third time in a fortnight, visited the Nangal dam in Rupnagar district of Punjab after allegedly coming to know that officials of the BBMB—a central body that manages and regulates water in Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams—had reached the dam to release water to Haryana.

The development comes days after the April 28 Haryana government's demanded for an additional 4,500 cusecs of water from the Bhakra dam snow-balled into a stand-off between the neighbouring states, with Punjab refusing the request.

"At the behest of the BJP government at the Centre, BBMB is not stopping its dirty deeds. While Punjab is standing firm against Pakistan on its border, the BJP government sitting at the Centre is once again going to put a stamp on the water of Punjab by the officials of BBMB," the Punjab chief minister said in a post on X.