With the 2027 Assembly elections approaching, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is set to move five resolutions on the state’s rights over river waters in the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday, signalling a major political outreach to the farming community.
The move comes as the party seeks to consolidate its support among farmers ahead of the elections. In the 2022 Assembly poll, AAP registered a sweeping victory after receiving significant support from a prominent farmer union in the Malwa region, which accounts for 69 of Punjab’s 117 Assembly seats.
The government had agreed to pass some of the resolutions during talks with Samyukt Kisan Morcha and BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leaders earlier this year.
The five resolutions add to the eight passed by the Assembly since 1952 on the state’s river water rights. The issue has remained a contentious political and economic concern for successive governments.
A resolution, to be presented on the last day of the ongoing session, asserts Punjab’s historical and legal claim to the waters of the Yamuna, which flowed through undivided Punjab before the state’s reorganisation in 1966. It notes that, unlike the Ravi and the Beas, the Yamuna was excluded from formal water allocations to Punjab. It also highlights the state’s dependence on groundwater for agriculture, with groundwater levels depleted across 72 per cent of its blocks.
Punjab filed a formal complaint on April 25, 2025, seeking the constitution of a water disputes tribunal to determine its claim to an equitable share of Yamuna waters. The resolution argues that such a share is necessary to sustain agriculture and reduce pressure on groundwater resources.
Another resolution challenges Section 79(1)(c) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, under which control of the Ropar, Harike and Ferozepur irrigation headworks was assigned to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). It argues that the provision is unconstitutional and beyond Parliament’s legislative competence, contending that water regulation falls under the State List of the Constitution.
The third resolution seeks to reaffirm the Assembly’s unanimous resolution of May 5, 2025, rejecting the Dam Safety Act, 2021.
The fourth one seeks royalty from Rajasthan for water supplied from the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas rivers. It argues that Punjab should not supply water free of cost. It calls on the Rajasthan Government and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti to acknowledge the liability, ensure annual payments and settle the cost of water supplied. The resolution also argues that Rajasthan is a non-riparian state and should share the financial burden.
A similar resolution seeking royalty for water supplied to non-riparian states was passed by the previous Akali-BJP government in the Vidhan Sabha on November 16, 2016.
The fifth resolution addresses the flow of Ravi waters into Pakistan from the Madhopur Headworks, the last headworks on the river in India.
