‘Haryana already facing water shortage, decision to give water to Raj wrong’

Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda again opposed Haryana’s new water agreement with Rajasthan.

Hooda said that Haryana has not received the water it should have got from Punjab, while Rajasthan too is violating the water agreement. “In such a situation, instead of strongly supporting Haryana and protecting our water resources, the BJP-JJP government is playing with the interests of the state and giving water to Rajasthan,” he said.

The former Chief Minister said the water which BJP-JJP are saying is surplus, can prove to be lifesaving for Haryana. “Keeping this in view, the Dadupur-Nalvi Canal Project was started during the Congress tenure, to recharge ground water and raise the underground water level. The BJP first stopped the Dadupur-Nalvi project as soon as it came to government and now it is also giving Haryana’s water to Rajasthan. Congress opposes this,” he said.

Answering the questions of mediapersons at his Chandigarh residence, Hooda said that the coalition government is following the Charvaka policy of making merry on borrowed money. “This government has drowned the state in debt. The total debt of the government has been shown in the Budget as Rs 3,17,982 crore, whereas today the actual debt of the state is Rs 4,51,368 crore (Internal debt – 3,17,982, Small Savings – Rs 44,000, Board and Corporation – Rs 43,955, outstanding electricity bills and subsidy – Rs 46,193 crore),” Hooda said.