Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has demanded Rs 1.44 lakh crore in dues from the Rajasthan government as compensation for river water supplied over the years. The state government warned of invoking legal channels if the dues are not cleared within the mentioned time frame, which is 30 days.
In a related step, Chief Secretary KAP Sinha has written to his Haryana counterpart Anurag Rastogi, seeking Rs 312.59 crore owed for the operation and maintenance of common carrier channels in the Bhakra Canal system.
In its letter to Rajasthan’s Additional Chief Secretary of the Water Resources Department, Punjab stated that the neighbouring state had ignored earlier correspondence and failed to pay royalty on river water used between 1961 and 2025. Previous reminders were sent on March 18 and May 4.
Punjab's claim rests on a water-sharing agreement signed in Shimla on September 4, 1920, between the rulers of Bikaner, Bahawalpur and Punjab.
Rajasthan continued to pay royalty until the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. At that time, a cess of Rs 6.50 per acre per annum was levied on Bikaner for water drawn from Punjab rivers. Punjab has now calculated the dues at the current rate of Rs 141.20 per acre per annum for an average of 10 million acre-feet (MAF), along with 8 per cent interest.
Separately, Punjab has billed Haryana Rs 281.78 crore from the Bhakra Main Line Division in Patiala and Rs 30.80 crore from the Mansa Division.
Haryana has not paid for canal maintenance since 2015-16. Of the Bhakra Canal’s total allocation of 12,455 cusecs, Haryana’s share is 63 per cent (7,841 cusecs) and Punjab’s 25 per cent (3,108 cusecs), with smaller shares for Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh.
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