Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday said that Haryana did not have any right over waters from the Ravi-Beas basin in Himachal Pradesh being a non-riparian state.

Speaking to reporters, SAD chief Badal said that Himachal Pradesh should not part with river waters to a non-riparian state without the consent of the downstream state.

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Terming news reports of negotiations having started between Himachal Pradesh and Haryana to construct a canal to take river waters directly from Himachal to Haryana and a likely meeting to finalise this arrangement on June 5, Badal said: “Another conspiracy has been initiated to rob Punjab of its River waters. We will not let it succeed at any cost.”

The Akali Dal leader said that Himachal and Punjab are the joint owners of the river waters being upstream and downstream states. “The upstream state cannot transfer water out of the watershed without due consideration of the rights of the downstream state,” he added.

The SAD president requested Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu not to enter into any negotiation on the transfer of river waters from Himachal to Haryana. He said Himachal could not part with any water to a non-riparian state without Punjab’s consent.

“Re-opening this issue after the closure of SYL canal in Punjab by former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who returned the land acquired for the canal from farmers back to them will amount to reopening old wounds. These could lead to intense inter-state and inter-people strife which would be detrimental to peace in the region,” Badal said.

The SAD chief also warned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann not to be caught napping on this most sensitive issue which concerned the lives and livelihoods of farmers of Punjab.

“Earlier also the Aam Aadmi Party government has been found wanting in standing up against repeated anti-Punjab decisions which have harmed the interests of the state. The chief minister must take proactive steps to ensure this conspiracy does not take off,” Badal added.

The SAD leader also asked the Punjab Congress to clarify its stand on the issue.

“The Congress is fond of taking different stands on the same issue in different states. The Punjab Congress must prevail upon its high command to direct the Himachal CM not to arrive at any agreement with his Haryana counterpart to divert river waters to the latter state in the same manner in which it opposed Congress high command moves to support Aam Aadmi Party on the issue of Central ordinance to restrict the powers of the Delhi government,” Badal said.