Chandigarh: Pritam Singh Kumedan who has extensive study on Punjab’s river waters issue has reportedly written a letter to Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal. Kumedan told Badal in his letter that Haryana is a non riparian state, the water dispute with it cannot be included in the Inter State Water Disputes Act 1956, which caters to only riparian states.
Further elaborating in detail on the issue of Section 14 of Inter State Water Disputes Act of 1956 and Section 78 of the Punjab Re organisation Act of 1956, Kumedan maintains that Punjab’s contention should be that Section 78 is a carbon copy of Section 68 of Andhara State Act 1953 and has been inserted in the Punjab Re-organization Act of 1966 without any application of mind. “While in the case of Andhra State Act both the parties to the dispute, Andhara And Mysore state were riparian states in the case of Punjab and Haryana State had ceased to be a riparian of Ravi and Beas” he said.
Former PCS argued that as per Section 78, all successor states viz Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh have got a share in the rights and liabilities of Bhakra Nangal project and Beas Project but only Punjab and Haryana were made parts while Himachal and Chandigarh were completely ignored and therefore the notification in this regard dated March 1976 is null and void. He added to his argument that that Rajasthan was made part to the Punjab Re-organization Act despite it being a rank outsider and was made party with some insidious agenda in mind and hence this agreement is null and void.
Adding in his letter to the CM, Kumedan has also referred to the SC advice taking note of its judgement in the case of State of Tamil Nadu vs State of Kerala regarding the height of Mullaperiyar Dam where the SC had ordered the height of the dam to be raised from 136 feet to 142 feet.”Punjab’s submission is that the state of Tamil Nadu case is not applicable and Punjab Termination of All Agreements Act 2004 is substantially legislative and is entirely different from Tamil Nadu’s case,” he says.