Punjab at 60: Former Chief Minister Urges State to Revisit Its Water Question

Punjab completed 60 years in its present form on November 1, and a former two-time chief minister who spent decades in the state's politics has used the milestone to call for a fresh look at one of the state's most stubborn issues: water. Writing in The Tribune, the veteran leader, who served in the Lok Sabha for two terms and in the state Legislature six times, reflects on a period that included Naxalism, the Green Revolution, the Khalistan movement, a drug crisis, terrorism and recovery, and large-scale migration.

The Punjab Reorganisation Act, which took effect on November 1, 1966, settled the long campaign for a state where Punjabi could be formally recognised. It also created Haryana, handed the hill areas to Himachal Pradesh and made Chandigarh a union territory. The author argues that the linguistic case was legitimate, but that the 1966 settlement did not resolve everything. Chandigarh's status, territorial questions and river waters remained open, and water in particular has become a persistent friction point between Punjab, its neighbours and the Union government.

The piece also takes a hard look at what the reorganisation cost Punjab. The hill tracts brought hydroelectric and irrigation assets, forests and tourism revenue. The industrial corridor around Faridabad, Gurgaon and the GT Road stretch from Ambala towards Delhi moved into Haryana. Chandigarh, planned as Punjab's capital, became a shared union territory. For readers tracking the state's economic map, that is a significant loss of industrial and revenue-generating ground.

Against that backdrop, the author credits Punjab's farmers with one of the country's great achievements. The Green Revolution turned the state into a surplus producer at a time when India struggled to feed itself, and that surplus helped secure national food security. But the wheat-paddy rotation that powered that prosperity has pushed soil and groundwater to their limits. In the author's view, the resulting water crisis can no longer be deferred or treated as a purely political talking point.

The argument rests on a principle the author has held for years: that Punjab's river waters are a matter of survival for its agriculture and population. He points to the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, passed in 2004, which was intended to keep water required by the state's own farms within Punjab. The Supreme Court later examined the law, but the author contends that the underlying question of whether Punjab can afford to share its water on current terms remains unanswered.

For investors, policymakers and farmers alike, the message is clear. Punjab's agricultural model is running into hard physical limits, and any reset, whether in crop mix, water pricing or interstate agreements, will shape the state's economy for decades. The op-ed does not offer a detailed policy blueprint, but it frames the water debate as a question of long-term viability rather than a fight over the past. Readers can read the full commentary at The Tribune's original column.

Related: Punjab stubble burning FIRs spark call for equal enforcement on industry · India's farm exports hit $54 billion, but processed-food share slips