State questions Power Ministry’s decision on BBMB chief
Tribune News Service, December 2 2009
Prabhjot Singh
Chandigarh
Punjab has not taken well the Union Power Ministry’s decision to allow a “controversial” Engineer-in-Chief from Haryana to hold additional charge of Chairman of the Bhakra Beas Management Board.

The post of Chairman of the BBMB has been lying vacant since the retirement of U.C. Mishra on July 31.

M.K. Gupta, Member, Irrigation, who belongs to Haryana, has since then been holding additional charge of the Chairman of the board. The only member of the board from Punjab is its Member, Power, V.B. Bassi. Even the post of Secretary that traditionally remained with Punjab is now held by Haryana. H.K. Gupta of Haryana is the Secretary while S.K. Sharma of Himachal Pradesh is the Special Secretary. M.K. Gupta is both Member, Irrigation, as well as the Chairman of the board.

Punjab has also objected to the post of Secretary being given to Haryana.

According to the Reorganisation Act, the Ministry of Power makes appointments to the board. The board has two whole-time members --- the Member, Irrigation, and the Member, Power. They are chosen, one each from Punjab and Haryana, from a panel of names sponsored by their respective states for the purpose of administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra Nangal and Beas projects.

The Punjab Government, feeling aggrieved by the failure of the Ministry of Power to name a regular Chairman, has also raised objections to the giving of additional charge to Member, Irrigation, M.K. Gupta.

In a letter to Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has questioned the prudence of the Power Ministry in naming a Haryana member the Chairman.

“The members of the BBMB are equal in status and there is no issue of inter se seniority among them. Therefore, a whole-time member merely on the basis of his earlier appointment cannot be given additional charge of the post of Chairman, BBMB. Needless to say that Bhakra Nangal and Beas projects involve Sutlej and Beas waters, respectively, and Punjab is the only state riparian to these rivers qua Haryana and Rajasthan. Punjab has a major stake in the operation of these hydel projects.

In case the Ministry is required to give additional charge of Chairman, it should go to a member representative of the major stakeholder and not a state that is a beneficiary of an arrangement that is not even constitutional,” writes Badal.

He has also questioned the credentials of the present incumbent, M.K. Gupta, saying he was instrumental in implementing the Hansi-Butana link channel project of Haryana in violation of the Bhakra Nangal Agreement, 1959. He made submissions in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by way of affidavits in defence of suits against the construction of the Hansi-Buttana canal as well as in Punjab’s suit that was pending in the Supreme Court, Badal said.

The Punjab Chief Minister has also reportedly mentioned in his letter to Union Power Minister the failure of Haryana to give an additional 125 cusecs of water to Delhi. Only in May this year, the Supreme Court passed orders issuing notice to Haryana for non-compliance with its earlier orders. Badal held that M.K. Gupta had played a partisan role favouring Haryana and as such was not fit to be the Chairman of the BBMB.

He wants this decision to be reviewed and also wants that the positions of Member, Irrigation, and Member, Power, may be rotated between the two states.