India News | SYL Issue: Haryana, Punjab Leaders Raise Pitch After Hearing in SC

Chandigarh, Sep 6 (PTI) There was fresh bickering among leaders of Haryana and Punjab over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute on Tuesday after the Centre told the Supreme Court that the Punjab government is "not cooperating" in resolving the decades-old matter.

While opposition parties in AAP-ruled Punjab reiterated that the state does not have water to give, the leaders in Haryana said they will claim their share of water of the Ravi and Beas rivers.

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Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatta demanded that a deadline should be fixed to resolve the matter.

“SYL water is very important for Haryana. On one hand, we are not getting this water, while on the other Delhi is demanding more water from us. Now fixing a deadline to resolve this issue at the earliest has become very essential,” Khattar was quoted as saying in an official release

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He said the completion of the construction work of the SYL canal is long pending and an issue of great concern between Haryana and Punjab.

“Due to the non-completion of the SYL canal, surplus, un-channelled water of Ravi, Sutlej and Beas is going to Pakistan, '' he stated.

On the direction of the Supreme Court to resolve the SYL issue, Union Jal Shakti Minister on August 18, 2020 called a meeting with the Chief Ministers of both the states "but unfortunately Punjab is not taking any further action as per the decision taken in the said meeting,” said Khattar.

Former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the SC had already given its decision in favour of Haryana.

“As far as this SYL issue is concerned, it has attained finality. Therefore a contempt of court petition should be filed in the matter,” said Hooda.

He also slammed the Khattar government in Haryana for not being able to get the state's share of water in the last eight years.

In Punjab, opposition parties asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to “stand up” for the cause of Punjab over the SYL issue.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema accused Mann of “weakening” Punjab's case in the SYL matter.

“Mann should know that the stand of Punjab is clear that neither we have water nor we have land for constructing the canal. It is time to stand up for the cause of Punjab. Any compromise on the rights of the state to oblige (Arvind) Kejriwal will not be acceptable to Punjabis,” said Cheema.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring questioned the state government's intentions, saying AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was from Haryana and his party could compromise Punjab's interest due to the 2024 Haryana polls.

“We are worried that all the efforts by the previous Congress governments to save Punjab's waters might go waste as the AAP government is hesitant and reluctant to put up a strong and unambiguous case in the apex court,” Warring said in a statement here.

He said the AAP could go to any extent to try to lure the voters in Haryana.

"With assembly elections in Haryana scheduled in 2024, three years before Punjab elections, the AAP will not hesitate in comprising Punjab interests," he alleged.

“Moreover let us not forget, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal belongs to Bhiwani in Haryana”, he said.

Warring asked CM Mann to explain to the people of Punjab what his government had done so far to save Punjab's water from going to Haryana.

The SYL canal row has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for several decades.

The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court the Punjab government is "not cooperating" in resolving the SYL canal dispute between the state and Haryana.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that the apex court had in 2017 said that matter should be amicably settled and the Union of India, through the Water Resources Ministry, has been trying to bring together states of Haryana and Punjab for the purpose of an amicable settlement.

"Unfortunately, Punjab has not been cooperating," the top law officer said, adding that letters were sent in 2020 and 2021 to the then Punjab chief minister who did not respond at all.

He said a letter was sent in April this year when the new chief minister took over in Punjab but he has not responded till date.

The apex court, which observed that water is a natural resource and living beings must learn to share it, said the parties have to have a "broader outlook" and realise the ramifications and necessity of a negotiated settlement, more so in view of security concerns, apparently referring to the occasional violence over the project.

Punjab has been demanding a reassessment of the Ravi-Beas river waters' volume while Haryana has been seeking completion of the SYL canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre-feet (MAF) of the river waters.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)