After deluge, Punjab, Haryana in blame game ( Indian Express 12 July 2010)

After floods claimed 33 lives in Punjab and Haryana and caused an estimated loss of nearly Rs 1,400 crore, a blame game has started between the two states.
Ironically, the two states have been fighting over water issues in the past,
with Punjab maintaining that it did not have a drop to spare and Haryana remaining determined to have its share of water from its neighbouring state.
The two states are now involved in yet another row, this time not over lack of water, but excess of it.
Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister and head of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal has alleged that the construction of Hansi Bhutana multi-purpose canal in Haryana was causing floods in Punjab. “We have taken photographs (of the canal) and will be giving it to the Central Water Commission,” Badal had said.
Hitting back, the Haryana government said the “propaganda being spread by the Punjab government by accusing Haryana for floods in Punjab territory is palpably false and grossly misleading.”
Principal Adviser to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, R N Prasher, has claimed that the problems faced by his state have their origin in Punjab because the Ghaggar water has been “diverted” to the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab.
“Since the SYL canal has a limited capacity, release of large volumes of flood waters in the canal has resulted in breaches of its banks in Ambala and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana. These man-made, deliberate and uncalled for illegal actions in Punjab territory have caused immense avoidable misery to the people of Haryana,” Prasher alleged.
In a communique to the Centre, Punjab has demanded that a team of the Central Water Commission be deputed to check the “damage” caused by the Hansi Butana canal, which it claims was stopping the natural flow of water of Ghaggar river.
21 Rajasthan districts still dry (Jaipur)
Nearly two-third of Rajasthan’s 33 districts have received scanty or deficit rains till now. The monsoon arrived late by over a fortnight in the state. Of the 21 almost dry districts, thirteen fall under scanty and eight in the deficit category of rainfall, an official said.
Jalore, Pali, Sirohi, Ajmer, Tonk, Dholpur, Jaipur, Sawaimadhopur, Bundi, Jhalawar, Banswara, and Dungarpur were among the district that received scanty rainfall while Bhilwara, Bharatpur, Karauli, Kota, Baran, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh and Rajsamand were under deficit rainfall districts.
Normal rains up to 19 per cent occurred in five districts, excess upto 60 per cent in three and abnormal rains in four districts.
Govindargh recorded a maximum rainfall of 320 mm followed by Kotkasim 233 mm in Alwar district. Whereas Banswara recorded a minimum of 7.0 mm followed by Pali 27 mm so far. Jaipur received 119.3 mm rainfall as against the average rainfall of 585 mm.
In the past 24 hours, light to moderate rains occurred in Tonk, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawaimadhopur, Alwar, Dausa, and Baran districts. The rainfall varied between 10 mm to 60 mm.