Haryana CM chastises AAP govt in Punjab for 'playing politics' over sharing Nangal Dam water
Chandigarh (PTI): Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday claimed his state was demanding water in the same quantity and ratio as earlier and slammed the AAP-led Punjab government for playing politics over the water-sharing issue.
His remarks came just hours before the start of an all-party meeting at 2 pm convened by Haryana government Haryana to discuss the row over Punjab refusing to release more water to the BJP-ruled neighbouring state.
On Friday, a similar meeting was held in Punjab on the Bhakra Beas Management Board's (BBMB) decision to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana which saw parties putting up a united stand on the issue.
The BBMB's decision to release water to Haryana on Wednesday came despite the Punjab government's strong objection, as it claimed that the neighbouring state has already utilised 103 per cent of its allocated share of water.
Coming out strongly against the Bhangwant Mann government's stance on the matter, Saini said, "If anyone comes to our home, the first thing we do is to offer a glass of water before we talk. It is surprising that politics can be played to such extent that there would be a question mark on drinking water."
There should be no politics over it, he told reporters here on the sidelines of an anti-drug event launched by Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya were also present at the event.
"It is unfortunate that the drinking water supply has been stopped. Nobody does this," an exasperated Haryana chief minister said while pointing out that water consumption increased during the sizzling months of April, May and June.
Replying to a reporter's question, Saini said, "We are demanding water in the same quantity and ratio in which Haryana was getting earlier. But we did not know there would be politics over drinking water."
The people of both Punjab and Haryana have come to understand the politics in play, he said convincingly.
Asked whether Haryana will call a special assembly session to discuss the water issue as Punjab has decided to do so on Monday, Saini said, "We will call it when the need arises. We will discuss it (water issue) with the leaders of all parties in today's meeting."
The Haryana chief minister also chastised the AAP government in Punjab for deploying police at the Nangal Dam, which is downstream of the Bhakra Dam. "This is wrong. It (water) is a natural resource neither I nor Mann can create."
The BBMB has also called a special meeting on Saturday evening, amid the ongoing row.
On Friday, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan chaired a meeting in New Delhi that advised Punjab to accede to the Bhakra Beas Management Board's decision to release 4,500 cusecs of extra water from the Bhakra dam to Haryana for the next eight days to meet the urgent water requirements on the state and some parts of Rajasthan.
The Haryana government has demanded 8,500 cusecs of water while Punjab is already giving 4,000 cusecs for drinking purposes.
On Thursday, Punjab Minister Harjot Singh Bains and AAP workers staged a 'dharna' at the Nangal dam in the Rupnagar district, claimed to have taken "control" over it, locked the room from where water supply is regulated and handed over its key to police.
Punjab Police have beefed up security at the dam.
The BBMB regulates water distribution from Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams. Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are the partnering states that meet their water requirement for different purposes, including irrigation, from Bhakra and Pong dams.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
