By IANS,
Chandigarh: Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Parkash Chautala Monday slammed the government of neighbouring Punjab for demanding royalty for river water that enters Haryana through the state.
“It is an old practice of Punjab that whenever election approaches, their government picks up some irrelevant issue to divert the attention from other burning issues that are plaguing their state. This time they are illegitimately demanding royalty over water,” said Chautala, a former chief minister of Haryana, while addressing reporters here Tuesday evening.
“The central government is also not taking this matter seriously. We demand an all-party meeting to deliberate on this issue. They should draft some strict law to ensure that every state gets its due share of water without any problem,” he added.
In the past few weeks, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has repeated on various occasions his demand for royalty from Haryana over water.
“We are not beggars, water is our right and we have adhered to all laws in getting our share. It’s really surprising that a senior leader like Parkash Singh Badal is demanding royalty as there is no law regarding this and no case is pending in any court over this,” stated Chautala.
“Nobody knows that which royalty they are talking about. If they have anything beneath their land then they are supposed to get it but for anything that is flowing over the land it is illegal,” he said.
If his demand is taken seriously then other states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir will also start asking for it and even countries like Tibet and China will start demanding it as all water is coming from there, he said.