New Delhi, Feb 22 (UNI) Reacting to Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that the Government would stop flow of India’s share of waters from eastern rivers under the Indus water treaty 1960 to Pakistan, the Congress on Friday charged the BJP-led regime with packaging jingoism to get over its national security failures.
Talking to reporters here, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said attempts to utilise the water of Eastern rivers for India’s purposes for the people of Punjab, Haryana, and J and K were being made for a very long time and that various dams had been built over a period of time, even before the BJP came to power in 2014.
‘’Anyone who has read in the Indus Water Treaty understands that the waters of the Eastern rivers are to be harvested by India. The waters of the Western rivers flow to Pakistan. And even the water of the Western rivers can be utilised by India in a non-consumptive manner.
'And you can have run of the river hydel-projects which you can use the water but you cannot dam the water of the western rivers. Now as far as water of Eastern rivers are concerned, we have been attempting to utilise that water for our purposes for the people of Punjab, Haryana, and J and K for a very long time. The Bhakra-Nangal Dam, the various other dams which have been built over a period of time, which is before the BJP came to power in May 26, 2014. Even these two projects which were ostensibly in Mr. Gadkari’s mind when he made those statements – one was cleared by the cabinet in 1999 and there was an NDA-BJP Government in 1999 and the other was cleared by the UPA Government in 2006. So, jingoism is being packaged in order to get over their substantive national security failures,’’Mr Tewari said.
In the wake of February 14 Puwama attack, the Union Water Resources Minister on Thursday said, 'Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi ji, our Government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab'.
'The construction of dam has started at Shahpur-Kandi on Ravi river. Moreover, UJH project will store our share of water for use in J&K and the balance water will flow from 2nd Ravi-Beas Link to provide water to other basin states,' the Minister added.
He said all these projects have been declared as national projects.
The announcement by the Union Minister is being seen as another step by the NDA Government to corner Pakistan in wake of the February 14 Pulwama attack.
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