Centre steps in; Home Secretary convenes emergency meet on Haryana's water needs from Bhakra Beas Management Board Dams

New Delhi [India], May 2 (ANI): Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Friday chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital to address the urgent water requirements of Haryana and parts of Rajasthan.
As per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the meeting focused on the implementation of a Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) decision to release an additional 4500 cusecs of water to Haryana for a period of eight days.
"It was decided to proceed with the BBMB's directive to release the extra water from Bhakra Dams to alleviate the immediate water scarcity," the MHA stated.
It was further agreed that during the dam-filling period, BBMB will compensate Punjab with an equivalent amount of excess water to address any additional requirements, it mentioned.
"BBMB will soon convene a Board meeting to finalise the modalities of this temporary water release," added the MHA in a statement.
Senior officials from the Central government, BBMB, and partner states--Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan--participated in the deliberations.
The BBMB manages the water distribution from the Bhakra and Beas river systems among the partner states--Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh.
During summer months, rising temperatures and declining reservoir levels often lead to disputes and urgent demands for additional water among these states. Haryana, facing acute water stress due to early heatwaves and below-average rainfall, recently requested extra water from BBMB to support irrigation and drinking water needs. (ANI)