Punjab is preparing to challenge the Kishau Multipurpose Project in the Supreme Court. The state says the Centre went ahead without taking it on board. It also wants a share in the Yamuna waters. The Tribune reported the development on September 21, 2026.
The move comes days after six states signed an agreement to take the long pending project forward. Those states are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.
What is the Kishau Multipurpose Project?
Kishau is a proposed 422 MW project on the Tons river. The Tons is a tributary of the Yamuna. The project is planned to hold up to 1,562 million cubic metres of water.
It is meant to supply water for irrigation, drinking and industry. It would also generate hydropower.
Why is Punjab going to the Supreme Court?
The Punjab Water Resources Department has asked the Advocate General’s office to approve a draft plaint, The Tribune reported. A senior advocate, who once served as Punjab’s Advocate General, has already vetted it.
Punjab argues that the project cannot be finalised under the current Yamuna water sharing arrangement. The reason is simple. The state was left out of the 1994 agreement that governs how the river’s surface flow is allocated.
What is Punjab’s argument on the Yamuna waters?
An official of the Water Resources Department spoke to The Tribune on condition of anonymity. The official set out the state’s case in four points:
- The 1972 Irrigation Commission Report places Punjab within the Yamuna basin. The state says it has asked the Centre to include it in Yamuna talks since 1992.
- The May 12, 1994 MoU was signed by Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Punjab was not a party.
- Under a March 12, 1954 agreement with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab was entitled to two thirds of the Yamuna waters. The state says its reorganisation in 1966 could not cancel that right.
- Clause 8 of the 1994 MoU allows a review after 2025. Punjab says the allocation should be reviewed now.
The state also points to the principle of a successor state. Before 1966, the Yamuna, like the Ravi and the Beas, belonged to the Punjab’s river system. Haryana receives Ravi and Beas waters as a successor state, even though it is not a riparian state of those rivers. A riparian state is one through which a river flows. Punjab says the same logic should apply to the Yamuna.
The state argues that one principle must be applied consistently. It says either the riparian principle or the successor state principle should be used, not each one selectively.
Over the past five years, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has repeated a similar line whenever river water disputes came up. He has said that if states that do not have the rivers can get Punjab’s waters, Punjab is equally entitled to the Yamuna.
On April 25 last year, Punjab lodged a complaint with the Centre under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1957. It asked for a tribunal to decide its claim over the Yamuna waters.
What has the other side said?
The Centre has not acted on it so far, according to the report. That is why the state is now considering going to court.
The source report does not carry any response from the Centre or from the six signatory states. The Supreme Court has not yet heard the case, and the plaint has not been filed. Filing dates have not been confirmed.