Chandigarh, March 12 Not even a spoonful of sand can be taken out of the Beas river for desilting unless a "very long procedure" mandated by the Centre is followed, as the river stretch is a Ramsar site under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Punjab Minister Barinder Goyal informed the state Assembly on Thursday.
Goyal was replying to a question raised by AAP MLA Dalbir Singh during the ongoing Budget session here.
The MLA had asked whether the Beas river had not been desilted in the Baba Bakala constituency, due to which the ground level of the river had risen, leading to floods.
The water resources minister said that his department had initially notified 85 desilting sites vide notification on October 16, 2025, after the devastating floods.
This included 29 sites of the Beas river as well, he said.
Goyal, however, said that the Beas river from Talwara to Harike (230 km stretch) has been declared as the Ramsar site by the government of India under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
It was declared a Ramsar site during the previous Congress regime, he said.
Surprisingly, the water resources department was never consulted for the declaration of the site.
Since it has been declared a Ramsar site, the state cannot take out even a spoonful of sand, regardless of how devastating a flood is or how much silt accumulates, he said.
He pointed out that a "very long procedure" has been prepared by the Centre which needs to be followed for desilting.
Under the rules, conservation plans and mitigation plans are required to be prepared through consultants before a proposal on desilting is submitted on the portal with the Ministry of Environment and Forest, government of India, the minister said.
After the preparation of the DPRs, there is a need for taking permission from the state technical advisory committee which will comprise the Centre's water commission.
The minister, however, said the department initiated the process which includes preparation of the detailed project reports and getting the same approved by the State Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) constituted as per the guidelines of the government of India.
It is important to desilt the Beas river as silt has accumulated following the last year's floods, he said.
He claimed that the Centre is making rules without consulting the states.
MLA Dalbir Singh said that 5,000 to 7,000 acres of area near the Beas river in his constituency were affected because of devastating floods as up to 15 feet of silt has accumulated.
He demanded that the desilting process be carried out as early as possible.
The Beas river, specifically the Beas Conservation Reserve, was designated as a Ramsar site in September 2019.
In October last year, the state government said that 85 sites had been selected for desilting rivers, including the Beas and Sutlej.
It then said that 190 crore cubic feet of sand would be extracted which would generate revenue of Rs 840 crore for the state exchequer.