No consensus could be reached on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water-sharing issue between Punjab and Haryana during a meeting that Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat held with the chief ministers of the two states in New Delhi on Wednesday.
After the meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said his state does not have “even a single drop of water” to share, while his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar in a statement said the full construction of the canal and getting water through it was a matter of “right” for his state.
The Punjab government is not even accepting the decision of the Supreme Court that scrapped the Punjab’s (Termination of Waters Agreement) Act-2004. The Punjab CM says that the 2004 Act still exists which is unconstitutional. SYL canal should be built and the Haryana government will apprise the Supreme Court about Punjab’s reluctant attitude over the issue. We will accept the decision of the Supreme Court in this regard,” Khattar said in a statement after the meeting.
Speaking to the media, Mann said the Supreme Court had asked the states [Punjab and Haryana] to find a amicable solution or look for an alternative. “They [in the meeting] asked me about the alternative to the SYL… I told them that they should have YSL (Yamuna Sutlej Link) instead. Give water to Sutlej through Yamuna. Give water to Haryana also but save our Sutlej. It is just a trickle now. Sutlej does not have water for a single canal. The water from Ganga and Yamuna that floods various parts of the country should be given to Punjab and Haryana. We have no issue if water is given to Haryana through YSL,” Mann said.
Canal of contention
The SYL canal, once completed, will enable sharing of the waters of the rivers Ravi and Beas between Punjab and Haryana. Punjab was opposed to sharing the waters of the two rivers with Haryana, citing riparian principles. On April 8, 1982, then PM Indira Gandhi launched the construction of the canal with a ceremony in Kapoori village in Patiala. A stretch of 214 km was to be constructed, of which 122 km was to cross Punjab and 92 km in Haryana. But SAD launched an stir in the form of Kapoori Morcha against the construction. In 1990, a chief engineer and a superintending engineer who were working on the canal were killed by militants. The construction came to a halt.
He also demanded a tribunal to assess the availability of water afresh, claiming that Haryana, despite being a 40 per cent shareholder against Punjab’s 60 per cent, was already getting more water.
Khattar said that SYL was the right of Haryana residents and he was hopeful that the state will get its share. “SYL water is very important for Haryana. It is necessary to fix a timeline in this matter so that the availability of water to the farmers of the state can be ensured. It is a well-known fact that despite two Supreme Court judgments, Punjab has not completed the construction of SYL,” he said.