For the second consecutive day, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda raised the issue of water disputes with neighbouring Punjab and sought the intervention of the prime Minister. Speaking at the National Water Resources Council, in the National Capital, Hooda said the Council should deliberate on the modalities to resolve inter-state water related issues and discuss such matters. Yesterday Hooda had raised the water-dispute issue at the National Development Council meeting. Haryana has been suffering on this issue, he claimed today. “It is neither getting water through the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal despite orders of the Supreme Court, nor is it getting its lawful share in the Ravi-Beas waters. The final award of the Ravi-Beas Tribunal has not been published even after 25 years, Hooda said. Hooda said Punjab had enacted a law (in 2004) terminating water-related agreements and the Centre had allowed the Presidential Reference on the subject to linger for more than eight years. It is unfair to the people of Haryana, he rued. Although the state has its legitimate share in the Ravi and Beas rivers, as part of the erstwhile Punjab, but it has been denied its share in the power generated from the Ranjit Sagar Dam constructed unilaterally on the Ravi. We have been raising this issue at various forums, but no resolution has been passed on it yet. Hooda said over the past one decade, the per- capita water availability in India had reduced. It was 1,816 cubic meters in 2011 and now stands at 1,588 cubic meters, he pointed out. The situation in Haryana is much more worrisome, as the water availability in the state is only 14 million acre feet (MAF) as compared to the requirement of 36 MAF. The storage projects on the tributaries of the Yamuna river-at Renuka, Kishau and Lakhwar Vyasi have been pending for a long time, resulting in the escalation in cost and wastage of water. Hooda requested the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter. Such issues should have been listed for discussion at this Council meeting, he said. He went suggested that a National Fund should be set up, which should promote measures for protection and conservation of all kinds of water, including waste water. Welcoming the proposal to set up a permanent Water Disputes Tribunal at the Centre, Hooda said it was important to ensure timely implementation of the orders and directions of various tribunals and courts.