The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday directed the Punjab government and its police personnel not to interfere with the functioning and regulation of the Bhakra Nangal Dam, which is under the control of the Bhakra Beas Management Board, reported Live Law.

However, the court said that Punjab was free to provide security to the dam and to personnel of the management board.

The High Court was hearing a petition by the Bhakra Beas Management Board alleging that Punjab Police personnel had forcibly taken control of the dam and the Lohand Control Room Water Regulation Offices to obstruct the release of water to Haryana.

This comes amid a fresh row over river water sharing between Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Haryana and Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party government.

The row began on April 23, when Haryana requested 8,500 cusecs of water (4,500 cusecs more than its regular quota) from the Bhakra Nangal project.

On April 30, the BJP governments in Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi voted in favour of releasing extra water to Haryana during a Bhakra Beas Management Board meeting. Himachal Pradesh, which is ruled by the Congress, abstained from voting.

The Bhakra Beas Management Board told the Supreme Court that it had decided to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana, which Punjab opposed. On the morning of May 1, it claimed that Punjab Police took control of operations at the dam and prevented water from being released.

The Board described the alleged action as “wholly unconstitutional and illegal” and said that it amounted to interfering with its statutory functioning, Live Law reported.

To this, the court said that the board’s allegation was correct, then deplying police personnel for interfering with its management and functioning “cannot be appreciated”.

The court added, according to Bar and Bench: “We are doing this to our enemy country. Let us not do this within our States.” The court appeared to have been referring to the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India as a retaliatory measure against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

The Punjab government argued that Haryana and Rajasthan had already consumed their quota of water from the Bhakra Nangal project and that Punjab’s share must not be infringed upon.

However, the Union government maintained that the water was meant for Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, and highlighted that during a meeting chaired by the Union home secretary on May 2, it had been decided to release an additional 4,500 cusecs of water for Haryana and parts of Rajasthan over eight days to meet urgent needs.

The Court directed the Punjab government to abide by the decision taken in the May 2 meeting.

The Court said that if Punjab disagreed with the Board’s decisions, it could raise the matter with the Centre, adding that the Union government should “take an expeditious decision” in such an instance.

On Monday, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab passed a resolution in the state Assembly, pledging not to release “even a single drop of water” from its share to Haryana.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alleged that the Board was being used to divert Punjab’s water without consultation, calling such decisions “unconstitutional” and “illegal”.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court criticised the Punjab government for its “high-handedness” by refusing to follow an order for constructing the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal to resolve its water-sharing row with Haryana.

In 1981, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana had entered into a water-sharing agreement. As part of this, Punjab and Haryana had to construct their portions of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal within their territories, to allow Haryana to draw its share of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers, besides distributing water among four other states – Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Haryana constructed the portion of the canal, but Punjab stopped work after the initial phase due to violence surrounding the construction.