Chandigarh, May 23 (PTI) The Punjab government on Saturday skipped the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) meeting, a day after the Centre advised them to release extra water to Haryana.

The BBMB regulates water distribution from Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams. Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are the partnering states that meet their requirement for different purposes, including irrigation, from Bhakra and Pong dams.

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The board called a meeting on Saturday evening to work out the modalities for the release of extra water to Haryana, amid a row over sharing of water with Punjab.

Ahead of the meeting, the Punjab government wrote a letter to the BBMB, demanding that the meeting be adjourned.

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The letter by Punjab's water resources department to the BBMB chairman stated that a Punjab Vidhan Sabha session would be held on May 5 and therefore, necessary preparation is required for the same.

"It is respectfully requested that the meeting may kindly be adjourned," it said.

The Punjab government has called a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on May 5 amid the water-sharing dispute with Haryana.

The state government also pointed out that as per regulations of the BBMB, a notice of not less than seven days is required to be given for holding a special meeting.

It also submitted that earlier the board had issued a notice on April 27 for the meeting on April 28.

"Subsequently, another notice was issued on April 29 for the April 30 meeting. In both meetings, the provisions of Regulation 3 of Regulations 1976 were not followed, under the circumstances, the decision taken in both the meetings is therefore not in accordance with the law. It is requested that the meeting proposed on May 3 may be adjourned," the letter read.

Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan chaired a high-level meeting on Friday in Delhi and advised to carry out the BBMB's decision to release 4,500 cusecs of extra water from Bhakra dams to Haryana for the next eight days to meet the state's urgent water requirements.

It was also agreed that during the filling period of the dams, the BBMB will provide this excess water to Punjab to fulfil any additional requirements of the state.

The BBMB will convene a meeting of its board to work out the modalities for the release of extra water to Haryana, it said.

The board decides the annual quota of water supply to the three partnering states -- Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan -- for a yearly cycle from May 21 to May 21 each year.

A fresh row erupted over water sharing between the two neighbouring states, with AAP-ruled Punjab refusing to release more water to BJP-ruled Haryana. They stated that Haryana "already used 103 per cent of the allocated water by March".

The opposition leaders in Haryana alleged that Punjab capped the Bhakra water supply to Haryana at 4,000 cusecs, even as the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue has been a bone of contention between the two states for the past several years.

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