Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday demanded long-term policies and their implementation to deal with the looming water and farm crisis in Punjab and other parts of the country.
The party’s Punjab unit demanded that the State and Central Governments should allocate special budgetary provisions for the purpose.
“Mere rhetoric sans substance won’t help deal with the looming crisis the State is confronted with...Long-term water and agricultural policies and their implementation, besides allocation of special budgetary provisions, is the need of the hour,” said AAP’s senior leader and the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema.
At the same time, he also demanded a two-day sessions of Punjab Vidhan Sabha and the Parliament to discuss and debate the lingering issues.
Cheema said that the preceding SAD-BJP alliance government and now the ruling Congress government had devastated the natural resources and environment, resulting in turning Punjab into a desert.
“Captain has been sending out alerts predicting that Punjab stood to turn into a desert after 20 years, but has done nothing to get rid of the crisis looming large on the State,” he said.
“Same is true about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who talked at length about spearheading a mass campaign to protect and preserve natural resources through his ‘Mann ki Baat’ address to the people, but no steps had been taken by the government led by him in this regard,” he said.
Cheema said that that the truth behind the Modi Government’s seriousness on the issues would come to the fore in the upcoming budget session. “Similarly, Captain Amarinder too owe an explanation to the people of the State as to what steps are taken by his government to save the depletion of falling water table,” he added.