JAIPUR: Punjab will move court to recover Rs 1.44 lakh crore in alleged water dues from Rajasthan after the latter rejected the claim, escalating the inter-state dispute into a legal battle.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused Rajasthan of using Punjab’s water for decades without paying the due royalty. “We will fight the case in court, and the Rajasthan government will have to answer there,” Mann said, claiming that payments were initially made but later discontinued.
According to Mann, the claim pertains to water supplied through the Ferozepur Feeder under a 1920 tripartite agreement involving the British administration, the princely state of Bahawalpur (now in Pakistan), and the then ruler of Bikaner. He said Rajasthan continues to draw nearly 18,000 cusecs of water through the Rajasthan Feeder, but stopped payments after the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty.
Mann argued that while Rajasthan continues to benefit from the 1920 agreement, it invokes the 1960 treaty when the question of payment arises. He added that the treaty did not explicitly address royalty payments nor nullify the earlier agreement.
“If calculated from 1960 to 2026, the total dues stand at Rs 1.44 lakh crore,” he said, adding that Punjab has written to Rajasthan seeking talks on the issue.
However, the Rajasthan government has strongly rejected the claim, calling it “unconstitutional.” State Water Resources Minister Suresh Singh Rawat said that under the 1920 agreement, any fee was payable to the British government, not Punjab.
Citing Article 262 of the Indian Constitution, Rawat asserted that rivers are national resources and cannot be treated as commodities for sale. He emphasised that water-sharing agreements signed after independence in 1955, 1959, and 1981 do not contain any provision for royalty.
“The Rajasthan government will safeguard the rights of its farmers and strongly oppose this illegal demand,” he said.
Rawat also noted that no formal communication has been received from Punjab so far. “Discussing the matter without official correspondence would be premature. Once we receive documents, we will seek legal advice,” he added.
The development comes amid the long-pending Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal dispute between the two states. Experts believe that while the current row may remain largely political for now, any escalation could push the matter towards central intervention or adjudication by a tribunal.