Farmer groups blocked the Ropar-Anandpur Sahib Road in Punjab on Friday to protest against the visit of a delegation tasked with settling matters related to the distribution of waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers between Punjab and its neighbouring states.
The blockade on the road near Bunga Sahib led to traffic disruptions, thereby preventing the tribunal from visiting Lohand Khad near Kiratpur Sahib, officials said. Vehicles were eventually diverted through alternate routes by the police.
The protesters raised slogans against the government and the tribunal’s proceedings, saying its recommendations could adversely affect Punjab’s rights over its river waters in a dispute that is raging on for more than four decades now.
The Ravi-Beas Water Tribunal was constituted under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, and is tasked with adjudicating matters related to the distribution of Ravi and Beas river waters between Punjab and its neighbouring states. It was originally formed on April 2, 1986, and submitted its initial report to the central government on January 30, 1987.
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Last year, the Centre extended the deadline for the tribunal to submit its report by another year, pushing the new date to August 5, 2026.
According to a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2025, the government cited the “exigencies of the work involved”, as flagged by the tribunal, for the extension. However, further references and clarifications were sought by the Centre later that year, prompting an ongoing review process.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal hit out at the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government, saying it had sold out Punjab’s river waters to Haryana via the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.
“The sell-out of Punjab’s river waters is becoming even clearer with the @AAPPunjab govt becoming a party to facilitating the visit of the Central Tribunal team to rob Punjab of its river waters,” he said in a post on X.
“This proves that @AamAadmiParty is trying to execute its conspiracy to transfer Punjab’s river waters to Haryana through the SYL canal,” the post read.
Alleging that AAP was conspiring to divert Punjab’s river waters to Haryana through the SYL canal, he asserted that SAD stood firmly with the protesting farmers.
“We will not allow even a single extra drop of water to be transferred to Haryana. For @BhagwantMann's information: S. Parkash Singh Ji Badal’s govt permanently settled the #SYL issue by denotifying the canal and returning the land to the owners/farmers,” Badal said.
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