AMRITSAR: Punjab MLA and former Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal raised questions on the neighboring states of Haryana and Rajasthan, stating that due to cloudburst incidents in higher mountainous areas (Himachal Pradesh) and heavy rains, the situation of floods has arisen in Punjab. Therefore, for the loss of life and property caused by these floods, the Punjab government should be reimbursed with funds as equal compensation by these neighboring state governments.
Dhaliwal expressed these views during his visit to nearly a dozen villages including Ghonewala, Daria Musa, Kot Razada, Chaharpur, etc., located near the international Ravi river in Ajnala constituency. He met with Gram Panchayats, farmers, farm laborers, and border residents to review the current situation of possible floods and also held a meeting with BSF officers and jawans stationed at the border outpost Kamalpur to gather information about the rising waters of the Ravi.
He stated that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s government is fully prepared and committed to protecting people in case of floods. Orders have already been issued to Deputy Commissioners for girdawari (crop damage assessment) of the ruined crops, so that compensation can be provided. He further informed that the Mann government has released ₹276 crore for the cleaning of drains, repair of breached embankments, and other necessary measures.
Dhaliwal also said that by blatantly violating the internationally recognized Riparian Law regarding river waters, the central government and the Haryana and Rajasthan governments, who always remain eager to loot Punjab’s river waters, have now shut their eyes to the devastation.
Due to heavy rains and cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh, uncontrollable and blind flow of water from the mountains towards the plains of Punjab has not only damaged embankments and flooded fields, destroying the crops of farmers (the food providers) but is also eroding fertile lands, dragging them into the river. Because of the anti-farmer policies of the central government, farmers, already trapped in debt and driven to suicides, are losing more of their land. In view of this, the governments of Rajasthan and Haryana should have come forward to share equal compensation for the losses in Punjab and raise their voice for the rights of the victims. But, instead, these neighboring state governments, bent on usurping Punjab’s waters, have kept their eyes closed.
The former minister Dhaliwal also criticized neighboring Pakistan’s anti-India conspiracies, saying that earlier it was not refraining from using drones to smuggle drugs, lethal weapons, and carry out anti-India spying activities. Now, Pakistan is building high studs along the Ravi river banks in its territory adjoining districts Pathankot, Gurdaspur, and Amritsar (Ajnala sub-division). As a result, the strong water flow of the Ravi is being diverted towards India, affecting the fertile agricultural land of villages along the Ravi as well as BSF outposts beyond the border fence.
He said that since independence, the people of villages near the international Ravi river and Indo-Pak border have stood as the second line of defense after the BSF, supporting the BSF, police, and civil administration in foiling Pakistan’s anti-India conspiracies. But the worrying part is that for the past 75 years, successive central governments have not released any special financial package to uplift the living standards of these border residents. He added that ever since the Mann government took charge in Punjab, several schemes have been implemented for development of basic infrastructure including health and education facilities in border and riverside villages.
Dhaliwal also revealed that although flood control rooms have been set up at the district level in Amritsar and at Ajnala and Ramdas by the administration, the situation remains concerning.