Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The political conflict has intensified over the statement of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah refusing to share the Indus river water with other states including Punjab. Aam Aadmi Party spokesman Neil Garg reacted sharply to this
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Garg said, “Omar Abdullah does not have the right to take a unilateral decision on the water of the Indus river. This water is a national property and Punjab has equal rights.”
Neil Garg of Aam Aadmi Party.
What did Omar Abdullah say
Speaking to the media on Friday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the water of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers of Jammu and Kashmir will be used for the people of the state first and only then will it be considered to give it to someone else. He opposed the 113 km long canal proposed to carry water to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, saying, “When we needed help on Ujh and Shahpur Kandi project, Punjab made us wait. Why do we give them water now?”
He also said that the state government will soon restart the Tulbul Navigation Project and Chenab water from Akhnoor to Jammu city will be diverted.
AAP retaliation: Punjab also needs rights
AAP spokesperson Neil Garg said in a counter -statement, “Punjab is a border state, which stands at the forefront of the security of the country in every war. While the state fills the food stores of the country, but in this effort, Punjab’s groundwater is in crisis and a large part of the state has gone into the dark zone.”
Garg also reminded that when there was tension between India and Pakistan, the central government thought of abolishing the Indus Water Treaty. Now that India has put this treaty on hold, it is the responsibility of the Central Government to justify the water of the Indus River and give it the right to Punjab.
CM Mann has already sought from the center, part of Sindhu
He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already appealed to the central government to give Punjab a part of the Indus, which used to go to Pakistan earlier. He bluntly said, “This is a question of existence and justice of farmers of Punjab, not politics.”
Increased confrontation over water, can take political form
Under the Indus Water Treaty (1960), India has full authority of Eastern rivers Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, while India was allowed to use limited use on Western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. Now that the treaty is suspended, a debate on the distribution of water distribution of these rivers has been sparked within the country.
The statements of Omar Abdullah and Neil Garg have made it clear that the matter may soon take the form of a political-constitutional conflict, in which the central government will have to intervene clearly.