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Punjab’s tall claims of irrigation success can weaken its case in Ravi–Beas water dispute

No one suggests Punjab should hide genuine gains in canal rehabilitation. But there is a difference between reporting gradual improvement and projecting a breakthrough.

In the charged atmosphere of a budget session, governments yield to the temptation of rhetorical excess. A Governor’s Address is expected to be optimistic. But optimism in matters of interstate river waters carries a cost. When a state makes expansive claims about irrigation gains and canal reach without strategic caution, it can unwittingly weaken its own position in a live river water dispute.

That is the risk Punjab now runs.

Some aspects of the state’s budget deserve acknowledgement. The emphasis on more efficient canal irrigation and saving every drop of scarce water is appreciable, as is the expeditious disbursal of crop-damage relief — no small matter given the unprecedented floods that battered the Ravi basin last year. But in matters of interstate river waters, credit must be claimed carefully.

Applause lines that can become admissions

The Governor’s Address of 6 March 2026 and the related Budget presentation project a triumphant irrigation narrative. Canal irrigation capacity has reportedly doubled in three years; surface water utilisation has risen to 6.6 MAF; canal water has reached 1,365 locations for the first time; and by year-end, the total area under canal irrigation will approach 7 million acres. On the political stage, these are applause lines. Before a tribunal or in interstate negotiations, they can become admissions against interest. 

Punjab’s historic case rests on one proposition: that its waters are finite, its agrarian........

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