Land belongs to people of Punjab, not Bhakra Beas Management Board: Harjot Singh Bains
Punjab E News (March 23): Punjab Education Minister and Sri Anandpur Sahib MLA Harjot Singh Bains on Sunday announced that the CM Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab Government will soon confer ownership rights on shopkeepers, residents and other occupants of surplus land in Nangal, Talwara and adjoining townships, asserting that the land belongs to Punjab and not to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). The move will end decades of uncertainty for thousands of families, with the Water Resources Department already issuing formal communication to the BBMB regarding over 800 acres of such land.
Cabinet Minister Harjot Singh Bains stated, “Our elders gave their lands and worked with their hands so that a newly independent India could get water and electricity. They also built this town. Yet, for over 50 years, the Bhakra Beas Management Board, an authority meant only to operate the project, began acting like a landlord, harassing the very people who built it.”
Referring to his earlier assurance, Harjot Singh Bains continued, “Four months ago, I met affected families in Nangal and promised a permanent solution. Today, that promise is being fulfilled. The Water Resources Department has served formal notices to the Bhakra Beas Management Board, making it clear that over 800 acres of surplus land is the property of Punjab.”
Clarifying the legal position, he said, “The Bhakra Beas Management Board has no authority to frame a lease policy for such properties. The land was acquired from our people for the dam projects. Now that the projects have been completed, the surplus land must return to the state and ultimately to the people who have lived on it for generations.”
Outlining the policy framework, Harjot Singh Bains added, “The Bhagwant Mann government is framing a comprehensive policy under the supervision of the Water Resources Department to grant ownership rights to existing occupants. All eligible shopkeepers, families and residents will be given rightful ownership. They will have to deposit only the legitimate charges as per stamp duty. No one will be left in uncertainty.” He further added that a new judicial complex for Nangal has also been identified and will be developed.
Emphasising the broader significance, he stated, “This is not just a policy change, it is the correction of a historical wrong. Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab Government stands with the families who sacrificed their lands for the nation.”
