Hansi-Butana canal: Haryana creating hurdles, says Punjab minister Rakhra
Thursday, 06/06/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130606/punjab.htm#2
Samana (Patiala) : While the state government is trying to clear a stretch of the Ghaggar in the Punjab territory for the smooth flow of water in the monsoons, residents of villages along the Hansi-Butana canal continue to live in fear of floods.
The concrete wall raised by Haryana and a 98 per cent monsoon prediction has added to their apprehensions.
Meanwhile, the Hansi-Butana issue has been raked up again after Punjab minister Surjit Singh Rakhra today accused Haryana of deliberately trying to create hindrances in ensuring clear and safe flow of water from Punjab.
The canal falls in the territory of Haryana and has been a bone of contention between the two states. Villagers living along the stretch inside Punjab, where the Haryana irrigation department has raised a concrete wall to save its villages from Ghaggar floods, are living in fear and have now left it to fate rather than the Punjab government to save them from flood fury.
“I have been a witness to four floods that have caused devastation and now with this toe wall, there can only be more damage,” said septuagenarian Ghaan Singh. “We have seen promises over the past decade, but nothing has been done,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Hansi-Butana issue was raked up again after Punjab minister Surjit Singh Rakhra today accused Haryana of deliberately trying to create hindrances in the way of ensuring clear and safe flow of water from Punjab.
Blaming Haryana for the mess in Punjab villages, Punjab Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra said that every state is duty-bound to save the interests of its residents, but Haryana, in order to save its residents, had raised a structure that is a death trap for Punjab. “However, we will surely work on a solution to save our residents from Ghaggar floods at any cost,” he added.
Patiala DC GK Singh told The Tribune that the administration is sure to complete all work pertaining to Ghaggar before June 30 and ample funds have been made available. “We will make sure that Ghaggar is clear at our end so that even if the concrete wall obstructs water spread, the loss is not much,” he stated after his visit to the area today. Sources said there is not much Punjab can do to save its villages in Ghaggar is in spate as the concrete structure would not allow sheet spread of water.
“We are spending crores of rupees to clear river Ghaggar to ensure its smooth flow, but the concrete wall put up by Haryana will surely obstruct the sheet spread in case of flood, thereby causing floods in our part of Punjab. As the matter is already subjudice, there is nothing much we can do,” claimed Chief Engineer (Canals) Amarjeet Singh Dullat.
“We can only clean the Ghaggar at our end and make sure the water flows freely, but if the flow is beyond control, some damage is unavoidable,” he stated.
The lingering issue
The Hansi-Butana toe wall was in the news two summers back after the neighbouring state got embroiled in a legal tangle over the issue. The Punjab Government wanted the Centre’s intervention in asking Haryana to stop the construction of the concrete wall along the canal
Punjab failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court. The court rejected its contention that the work would prevent the natural flow of rainwater and, thus, worsen the flood situation in its territory
Haryana “is entitled to protecting its inhabitants from floods just as the erstwhile Punjab was entitled to protecting its inhabitants to the south of the bundh,” the Supreme Court noted in 2011
