Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann decides not to give extra water to Haryana

CHANDIGARH: ,Leaders of all major parties in Punjab—AAP, BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal—came together on Friday at an all-party meeting chaired by chief minister Bhagwant Mann to unanimously oppose the Centre’s move to release additional water to Haryana.

The meeting, held in New Delhi, saw leaders jointly assert that Punjab has no surplus water to share. The participants expressed strong reservations against the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) decision to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana—an excess of 4,500 cusecs above the allocated quota.
Mann on Thursday strongly opposed releasing additional water to Haryana, insisting the neighbouring state had already exhausted its allocated share. He criticised the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) for deciding to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana, calling it a “robbery” of Punjab’s rights and asserting that the board had no authority to impose such decisions on the state.
Escalating the row, the AAP-led Punjab government convened an all-party meeting on Friday and scheduled a special session of the Vidhan Sabha for Monday to address the issue. Mann, accompanied by minister Harjot Singh Bains and AAP workers, also staged a protest at the Nangal dam in Rupnagar district against the BBMB’s move.
Security was heightened at the Nangal dam, located downstream of the Bhakra dam, where Bains claimed they had "taken control" of the site. He said the room that controls water supply was locked and its key handed over to the police.
The BBMB’s decision to release water on Wednesday came despite objections from the Punjab government, which claimed Haryana had already used 103% of its allotted water share. Mann accused BJP-ruled Haryana and Rajasthan of acting in collusion and overriding Punjab’s authority in the BBMB meeting, despite Punjab having a 60% stake in the board’s decisions. He warned that Punjab could not spare a single drop as it was preparing for the upcoming paddy sowing season.
The BBMB manages water release from Bhakra, Pong, and Ranjit Sagar dams to Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, which rely on these resources mainly for irrigation. The dispute has reignited a long-standing water-sharing conflict between Punjab and Haryana.
Opposition parties in Punjab — the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — joined the AAP in rejecting the release of any extra water to other states. Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar also backed the stance, saying the state lacked surplus water to share.
Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini slammed the AAP government for “playing politics” over water and said this was the first time drinking water supply had been disrupted. Calling it a matter of human need rather than irrigation, Saini said such actions were “deeply regrettable” and went against national unity. He urged Punjab to act like an “elder brother” and not treat water as a political weapon.