Chandigarh, Apr 30 (PTI) Haryana opposition leaders on Wednesday slammed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann after he refused to release more water, with INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala threatening to block all routes from Punjab passing through Haryana.

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda accused the Mann government of reducing the supply of water to Haryana, a BJP-ruled state, from 8,500 cusecs to 4,000 cusecs.

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Mann on Tuesday refused the release of more water to Haryana, stating that the neighbouring state has already utilised 103 per cent of its allocated share. He also accused the BJP of exerting pressure on the Punjab government through the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to meet Haryana's demand.

Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are partnering states who meet their water requirements from Bhakra and Pong dams managed by the BBMB. The BBMB decides the annual quota of water supply to the three states for a cycle from May 21 to May 21 every year.

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A fresh row erupted with Haryana opposition leaders saying Punjab capped the Bhakra water supply to Haryana at 4,000 cusecs, even as the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue has been a bone of contention between the two states for the past several years.

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Chautala said, "Bhagwant Mann does not know what he is saying, he is trying to make people of the two states fight with each other."

Chautala further said that during the agitation against central farm laws, farmers from Haryana stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Punjab farmers.

He urged the Punjab farmers to exert pressure on the Mann government so that Haryana is given its due share of water.

"If the government does not take any immediate action, then we will have to take a big decision," he said.

"We will be forced to block all roads from Punjab which pass through Haryana and go towards Delhi and other parts of north India. This is not mere threat," Chautala warned in a video message.

The INLD chief said that districts like Sirsa, Hisar, and Fatehabad, which are Bhakra dependent, are facing water shortage.

Congress leader Hooda said that Haryana is not "begging" but this is the state's share of water, which the Punjab government will have to give.

"Punjab has no right to cut Haryana's water share. The BJP government is sitting silent despite the continuous reduction in Haryana's share. Suddenly, 8,500 cusecs of water was reduced to 4,000 cusecs," Hooda said.

"This unconstitutional step of the Punjab government will create a water crisis in many districts including Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Rohtak and Mahendragarh and irrigation of the upcoming crops will also become difficult," he said.

Hooda also alleged that since coming to power, the BJP has not advocated Haryana's interests on any platform.

"Despite the Supreme Court's decision in favour of Haryana on SYL, the government has not been able to get water till date," he said.

Chautala also said the Centre should ensure that Haryana gets its share of SYL waters.

On Tuesday, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini hit back at Mann, accusing him of twisting facts, hours after the AAP leader rejected the BJP-ruled state's "demand for more water".

Saini cited a letter dated April 27, which he wrote to Mann, and said that he was surprised that instead of responding to his letter, Mann released a video and tried to "mislead" the people by disregarding the facts.

Saini stated that on April 26, he told Mann over the phone that the Punjab officials were showing reluctance in implementing the decision taken by BBMB's Technical Committee on April 23 to release water to Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

Saini said Mann on that day had given him an assurance that the matter would be resolved by April 27 morning.

However, when nothing happened, Saini said he wrote the letter to Mann to look into the issue. Saini urged Mann to ensure the immediate release of water to Haryana as per the decision of the Technical Committee.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)