The 214-km SYL canal — 122 km in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana — was conceptualised for the effective allocation of water from Ravi and Beas rivers.
Satluj river in Punjab. (Wikimedia)
The Supreme Court’s directions asking the Union government to survey the land allocated for the construction of a part of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab have yet again pitted Haryana and Punjab against each other.
The emotive issue has yet again become the pivot of politics in both the states with opposition joining hands with their governments on the same. While Punjab stands united over not ‘giving a drop to anyone’ Haryana says it will “claim what’s rightfully”.
The 214-km SYL canal, 122 km in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana — was conceptualised for the effective allocation of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers.
Haryana has completed the project on its territory but Punjab, which launched the construction work in 1982, shelved it. The two states have been fighting it out since then without any resolution even as the acquired land has been reclaimed in many areas.
The water-sharing dispute is set to snowball into a major tussle with Punjab calling an emergency cabinet meeting and deciding on seeking a legislative respite.
Taking a strong stand on the issue, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, while chairing the meeting asserted, “Punjab doesn’t have a single drop to spare other than the water already being given to other states. There is no question of the same”.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that they will soon decide whatever legal recourse needs to be taken or if any session of the Vidhan Sabha needs to be convened.
An official statement issued by the council of ministers said there is no question of construction of the SYL canal. “It (cabinet) firmly said that Sutlej river has already dried up and there is no question of sharing even a single drop of water from it.”
“Punjab has no surplus water to share with Haryana and reassessment of the availability of water is required as per international norms, It was also observed that Punjab’s 76.5 percent blocks (117 out of 153) are over-exploited where the stage of groundwater extraction is more than 100 percent, whereas in Haryana only 61.5 percent blocks (88 out of 143) are over exploited,” read the statement.
The monsoon session of the Punjab Assembly will also be convened within the next couple of days, said Cheema, adding that the date for convening the session will be announced once the Speaker returns from abroad.
The government is contemplating convening a regular session as it has not got the budget session prorogued by Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
The opposition meanwhile stands on the same page on water sharing and has asked the chief minister to immediately convene an all-party meeting.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has appealed to people to gherao central teams which will survey the SYL canal land in the state.
SAD leader Bikram Majithia said that SAD was ready for any sacrifice but would not allow the SYL canal to come up in Punjab.
He also asked the AAP-led government and the state unit of the BJP to clarify their stand on the proposed survey. He called upon state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar to ask the Centre to desist from conducting any survey to identify land for the canal.
Leader of Opposition Congress MLA Pratap Singh Bajwa said that they were all for the conservation of the water of Punjab but blamed Mann for not handling the issue properly.
“I’ve always believed that a stitch in time saves nine. The Government of Punjab did not take this case seriously. Punjab will have to act immediately to save its waters. We have released more than the required water towards Rajasthan & Haryana.”
Asking the Punjab government to implement the Supreme Court’s latest directive regarding the construction of the SYL canal, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said that the apex court order regarding the construction of the SYL canal was a matter of immense satisfaction and importance.
Haryana’s Leader of Opposition and former state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on Thursday, 5 October, announced that the Congress shall support the Haryana government provided “positive steps are taken to get state’s water” through SYL canal construction.
Interestingly the AAP unit of Haryana has decided to choose “state welfare” over its party unit in Punjab.
AAP’s Haryana campaign committee chairman Ashok Tanwar said the Haryana unit of the party will support the state government if it takes any step regarding the SYL canal and Chandigarh.
He said the prime minister should come forward and hold a meeting with the chief ministers over the pending water disputes between the two states.
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