Chandigarh, Sept. 6 -- Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) chairman Manoj Tripathi on Friday said that the floods in Punjab were inevitable because dams received "unprecedented water" during the monsoon even as he held the state government responsible for making the situation worse due to mismanagement. Punjab has faced its worst floods in nearly four decades due to swollen rivers, including the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi, caused by heavy rainfall in their catchment area in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. At least 43 people have been killed in various rain-related incidents across the state during the current monsoon season. "Bhakra and Pong dams received double the water the reservoir of each dam can hold six BCM (billion cubic metre)," Tripathi said at a press conference on Friday. "Had the dams not existed, the situation could have been worse." He said the BBMB are left with no option but to release water downstream if the dams receive more water than their capacity. "The amount of water received in the dams this monsoon season is unprecedented..." he said. "The inflow during monsoon was double the amount of water reservoirs can store safely. The excess will go downstream." However, he noted that the situation turned worse as the state government allegedly failed to manage water courses. "The situation could have been averted from turning worse had the Punjab government managed the water courses of rivers and canal by timely desilting and strengthening of embankments," he said. Tripathi, along with two other members of the BBMB, had called for the press conference following allegations that the floods crisis could have been averted if the BBMB and the Punjab government had planned well. According to BBMB, the releases of water from the dams were not planned unilaterally, but, in consultation with the partner states -- Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The engineers of central water commission and the Indian Meteorological Department are also consulted. Tripathi said the Pong dam received 220,000 cusecs of water in a single day, and Bhakra Dam received 190,000 cusecs during the same period. He noted that the maximum release from Pong was 110,000 cusecs and 85,000 from Bhakra. With rainfall in the catchment areas of the dams decreasing, Tripathi said there is no major excess water making its way to their reservoirs. "As per the weather predictions, rainfall will continue until September 15, but not as heavy it was in August," he said. HT did not receive responses from Punjab irrigation and water resources minister Barinder Kumar Goyal and principal secretary of the department Krishan Kumar....