Punjab floods: AAP slams Union Minister Shivraj Chouhan over illegal mining claims, demands relief package

Chandigarh, Sep 6 (PTI) Punjab Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Saturday slammed Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for blaming illegal mining in rivers for flooding and alleged that the BJP leaders visit flood-hit areas for "photo-ops" instead of announcing financial aid for the state.

Accusing the BJP of discriminating against Punjab, the ruling AAP said that the Union Minister did not announce "even a penny" in flood assistance despite the state government seeking payment of its "pending" Rs 60,000 crore from the central government.

Chouhan had visited flood-ravaged areas in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala on Thursday.

The Union Agriculture Minister had on Friday said he would submit a detailed report on the Punjab flood situation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister attributed the flooding partly to weakened embankments along the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and Ghaggar rivers, compromised by illegal mining activities.

In a post on X, he said, "When Atal ji was the prime minister and Parkash Singh Badal ji was the chief minister of Punjab, embankments (bunds) along the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, and Ghaggar rivers were strengthened and raised to protect crops from floods. But due to illegal mining, they have weakened, and water has entered the villages." "Now, it is necessary to strengthen those structures so that Punjab can be saved from such tragedies in future," Chouhan said.

When asked about Chouhan's statement, Arora, who is also the president of AAP's Punjab unit, said, "It is shameful on his part that he blamed illegal mining. What allegation will he make for the floods in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana?" "Instead of holding hands of people at this time, they (BJP leaders) come to do politics ... Chouhan ji got his photos clicked in knee-deep water but did not announce a single penny for Punjab or a relief package," he said.

They are keeping "mum" over the state government's demand for the release of "pending" Rs 60,000 crore, said Arora while speaking to reporters in Mohali.

A few days ago, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had written to PM Modi to release Rs 60,000 crore of the state's funds, which he claimed were "stuck" with the Centre, while highlighting that Punjab was grappling with one of the worst flood disasters in decades.

Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal too lashed out at Chouhan, calling his allegations "baseless and misleading", and asserted that floods were caused by record rainfall and unprecedented inflow of water in rivers.

"The present focus must remain on relief and rehabilitation of affected families instead of political blame games," he said.

Punjab witnessed an extraordinary discharge of 14.11 lakh cusecs in the Ravi river this year, surpassing the 11.2 lakh cusecs recorded in 1988 when the state had witnessed the worst floods.

Strengthening works worth over Rs 200 crore undertaken by the Punjab government during the last two years ensured that embankments withstood the pressure, with no breaches reported along government-controlled embankments of the Beas river, he said.

Terming Chouhan's claims "illogical", Goyal stressed that regulated mining in Punjab does not endanger river embankments, and no mining activity is permitted within 100 metres of flood protection embankments.

Mining is banned in Ravi within five kilometres of the international border due to Army and BSF restrictions, while the Beas river is a declared "Conservation Reserve" where mining is prohibited.

No mining exists in the Ghaggar river, while in Sutlej, operations are permitted only under approved mine plans and with environmental clearance from the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), he said.

Goyal said unprecedented rainfall was the sole cause of floods, with Chamba recording 1,205 per cent, Kangra 275 per cent and Pathankot 820 per cent above normal rainfall on August 25 alone.

He said that attributing such a natural calamity to illegal mining was unjust to the suffering people of Punjab.

Asking the Centre to introspect on "unnecessary delays" in addressing Punjab's demands, Goyal said every year Punjab spends crores of rupees for protecting BSF and army outposts in national interest.

He lamented that Punjab's proposals for the protection of border outposts, vital for the BSF and army, are still pending with the Centre despite requests by the state government.

Despite in-principle approval by the National Disaster Management Authority, only 19 of the 28 proposed works have been cleared so far and the release of funds is still awaited, he added.

Accusing the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) of adopting discriminatory tactics against Punjab at the behest of the Centre, Goyal said during the technical committee meeting, Punjab had categorically demanded 29,500 cusecs of water for irrigation during June, as the paddy sowing season was underway.

Despite repeated letters and requests, Punjab was allocated only 21,000 cusecs of water, against the stipulated norms that mandate supply as per the demand of partner states during the filling period.

"Had Punjab been given its rightful share, our irrigation needs would have been fully met and the dams would also have had adequate space to store excess water," said Goyal.

The minister claimed that the BBMB has a history of acting "arbitrarily", often going silent when Punjab seeks relief, but readily imposing its own decisions when it comes to creating pressure.

Highlighting the long-pending demand of a barrage at Makaura Pattan on the Ravi river downstream of Ujh, the minister said the project would harness lean period flows for irrigation, drinking water and groundwater recharge in border areas. PTI CHS RT RT