Retired senior IAS officer and Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) KBS Sidhu, along with environmental activist Colonel (retd) Jasjit Singh Gill, has urged Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to enact a new law establishing an independent statutory authority for the protection, restoration, and management of the state’s rivers. The duo also seeks to strengthen Punjab’s legal claim over the waters of the Sutlej, Ravi, and Beas rivers.
Draft Legislation Submitted to Chief Minister
Sidhu and Gill submitted to the Chief Minister a draft legislation titled “The Sutlej and Eastern Rivers Waters Authority of Punjab Bill, 2026,” accompanied by a detailed policy brief explaining the necessity of the proposed law. A copy of the draft was made available to The Tribune.
The proposed legislation envisions the establishment of the Sutlej and Eastern Rivers Waters Authority of Punjab, an autonomous statutory body responsible for the integrated management of the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, and Ghaggar rivers, as well as any other rivers notified by the state government.
Composition and Leadership of the Proposed Authority
According to the draft, the authority should be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court. It would include experts in hydrology, ecology, and water law, a nationally recognized environmental activist as Vice-Chairperson, senior government representatives, and a full-time Chief Executive Officer of Principal Secretary rank.
Ecological Crisis and Pollution Concerns
In their policy note, Sidhu and Gill stated that Punjab’s rivers are facing an unprecedented ecological crisis. They contend that the Sutlej downstream of the Ropar Headworks receives only a token environmental flow, insufficient to sustain aquatic life or dilute sewage and industrial effluents discharged into the river. The document also highlights pollution from the Buddha Nullah, illegal and excessive riverbed mining, and widespread encroachments on riverbeds and floodplains.
Public Trust and Enforceable Rights
The proponents propose that rivers be declared as assets held by the state in public trust for present and future generations, giving citizens enforceable rights to ecological flows, clean river water, flood protection, access to rivers, and publicly available river flow and water-quality data.
Ecological Flow as First Charge on River Waters
One of the significant provisions of the draft Bill is the declaration that ecological flow should become the first charge on river waters, subordinate only to emergency drinking water requirements. The proposal also states that water released to keep rivers alive should no longer be treated as “waste,” “loss,” or “unutilised water” in official records.
Constitutional Strategy on River Waters Dispute
The draft further proposes a constitutional strategy on Punjab’s long-standing dispute over river waters. While reiterating Punjab’s position that Sections 78 to 80 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, are beyond Parliament’s legislative competence, it suggests that the state pursue its claim before the Supreme Court through proceedings under Article 131 of the Constitution rather than through unilateral legislation.
Regulatory Powers and Penalties
The proposed authority would also be empowered to regulate riverbed mining, prohibit untreated industrial discharges, prescribe stricter pollution standards than existing central norms wherever necessary, and order the suspension of water or electricity supply to industries violating environmental regulations.
Financial Independence and Funding Mechanisms
To ensure financial independence, the draft recommends that 50 per cent of the state’s riverbed mining revenue be transferred to a dedicated Punjab Rivers Fund. It also proposes a River Maintenance Cess on electricity drawn from the Bhakra-Beas projects and a River Restoration Cess on bulk industrial water users to finance river conservation and restoration.
Additional Provisions
Among other provisions, the Bill envisages preparation of basin management plans, statutory demarcation of river corridors, restoration of wetlands and abandoned channels, groundwater recharge measures, annual river-balance accounts, monthly public dashboards on river health, and mandatory public hearings before major river management decisions.
Sidhu and Gill have urged the Chief Minister to consider introducing the legislation in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, arguing that the state requires a dedicated statutory institution with assured financial resources to address pollution, ecological degradation, and the long-term management of its river systems.
