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Monday, Aug 09, 2004

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Punjab takes umbrage at Chautala charges

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, AUG. 8. The Punjab Government has launched a major counter offensive against the Haryana Chief Minster, Om Parkash Chautala, whom it has accused of "spreading lies'' regarding the recent floods. It has also accused the neighbouring State of not co-operating in taking steps of harnessing seasonal rivers, which could have proved anti-flood preventive measures as well.

The counter came in late last evening, when the Punjab Irrigation Minister, Lal Singh, who was assisted by a team of top officers and engineers of the Irrigation and Drainage departments, briefed media persons on the issue. The State Government sought to rubbish allegations being made against it, especially the Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, who was accused of deliberately breaching the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal and the Narwana Branch Canal (NBC), inundating areas around Ambala last week.

While Mr. Chautala has been making various allegations, the Punjab Government said it was yet to receive any official communication from its Haryana counterpart. Mr. Lal Singh cautioned Mr. Chautala against indulging in false propaganda, with an eye on political mileage out of the grave natural calamity.

Mr. Singh denied that NBC flooded areas in Haryana because Punjab had allowed SYL water, claiming that the State Government had evidence that the NBC was breached by Ghaggar river, when it came in spate. He reminded that Mr. Chautala had refused the offer from Punjab Government to jointly put a dam across Ghaggar, which would have gone a long way in harnessing the water in this seasonal river, as well as taming the flood fury it unleashes in the rainy seasons in the southern areas of Patiala, Sangrur and Mansa districts of Punjab. He said that the floods in the region have been caused in the past, due to the fury of Ghaggar, Markanda and Tangri rivers, which crisscross the inter-state border at many places.

The Minister drew Mr. Chautala's attention that at the area, where the latter had accused Punjab of deliberately breaching NBC, the flow gradient was towards Punjab. He pointed out that due to the floods caused by the unprecedented rains last week, 332 villages of Punjab had been badly affected. While 20 percent population of the Patiala and Sangrur districts had been hit, eight persons had lost their lives, while 800 cattle head perished.

Meanwhile, according to official reports, Ghaggar river continued to flow above the danger level, raising the number of breaches in its banks in Punjab territory to nine as against four on the previous day. While at least 10 villages in the Khannauri area were marooned, floodwaters had destroyed fields and entered low-lying areas in another 16. The district administration had requisitioned the help of the Army to assist in the rescue and relief operations.

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