Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: The decades-old Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue between Punjab and Haryana continues to remain unresolved as the chief ministers of both states failed to reach a consensus on Wednesday.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann pushed for changing the project’s nomenclature to Yamuna-Satluj Link (YSL) instead of the existing name. Mann categorically stated that “Punjab did not have a single drop of water to share with Haryana.”
“More than 78 per cent of our 150 blocks are in the extreme dark zone due to depletion of groundwater table, so Punjab can’t afford to share its water with any other state,” he said after a meeting with his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khatar in the presence of Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi.
Terming the project an “anti-Punjab” agreement, Mann said the state was averaging 18.56 million acre-feet (MAF) when the pact was inked but has now been reduced to 12.63 MAF. He added that Haryana was averaging 14.10 MAF of water from Satluj, Yamuna and other rivulets and urged the centre to provide water from Ganga and Yamuna to Punjab through the Sutlej river.
Mann said that this is the only viable alternative which can be considered in wake of the alarming situation of water scarcity in the state. He said that despite being smaller in area, Haryana is getting more water than Punjab and was demanding more water at his state’s expense. In wake of this fact, Mann said, “how can we give water to Haryana if our own fields are starving for it?”
He bemoaned that in all the water agreements across the globe, a clause is mentioned that the agreement will be reviewed after 25 years in wake of climate change. However, he said that the SYL agreement is the only exception in which no such clause has been mentioned.
After the meeting, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that no consensus has been reached in the meeting. He said that the Supreme Court in its decision had announced that SYL should be constructed but Bhagwant Maan and his administrative wing are not ready to find a solution.
“Instead of discussing this pivotal issue, the Punjab Chief Minister and his administrative wing are repeatedly saying that there is no water in the state. Rather they are asking to discuss sharing of water whereas a separate tribunal has been set up for discussing issues related to water sharing. Distribution ofwater will be done according to the recommendation of the tribunal,” said Khattar.
Khattar said that the Punjab government has not accepted the Supreme Court’s decision wherein the Act brought by the Punjab government in the year 2004 has been repealed. “Punjab Chief Minister says that the 2004 Act still exists which is completely unconstitutional,” he added.
Khattar said that the SYL Canal should be built and the Haryana Government would apprise the Supreme Court about Punjab’s reluctance over this issue. “We will accept the decision of the Supreme Court in this regard,” added Khattar.
CHANDIGARH: The decades-old Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue between Punjab and Haryana continues to remain unresolved as the chief ministers of both states failed to reach a consensus on Wednesday.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann pushed for changing the project’s nomenclature to Yamuna-Satluj Link (YSL) instead of the existing name. Mann categorically stated that “Punjab did not have a single drop of water to share with Haryana.”
“More than 78 per cent of our 150 blocks are in the extreme dark zone due to depletion of groundwater table, so Punjab can’t afford to share its water with any other state,” he said after a meeting with his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khatar in the presence of Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi.
Terming the project an “anti-Punjab” agreement, Mann said the state was averaging 18.56 million acre-feet (MAF) when the pact was inked but has now been reduced to 12.63 MAF. He added that Haryana was averaging 14.10 MAF of water from Satluj, Yamuna and other rivulets and urged the centre to provide water from Ganga and Yamuna to Punjab through the Sutlej river.
Mann said that this is the only viable alternative which can be considered in wake of the alarming situation of water scarcity in the state. He said that despite being smaller in area, Haryana is getting more water than Punjab and was demanding more water at his state’s expense. In wake of this fact, Mann said, “how can we give water to Haryana if our own fields are starving for it?”
He bemoaned that in all the water agreements across the globe, a clause is mentioned that the agreement will be reviewed after 25 years in wake of climate change. However, he said that the SYL agreement is the only exception in which no such clause has been mentioned.
After the meeting, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that no consensus has been reached in the meeting. He said that the Supreme Court in its decision had announced that SYL should be constructed but Bhagwant Maan and his administrative wing are not ready to find a solution.
“Instead of discussing this pivotal issue, the Punjab Chief Minister and his administrative wing are repeatedly saying that there is no water in the state. Rather they are asking to discuss sharing of water whereas a separate tribunal has been set up for discussing issues related to water sharing. Distribution of
water will be done according to the recommendation of the tribunal,” said Khattar.
Khattar said that the Punjab government has not accepted the Supreme Court’s decision wherein the Act brought by the Punjab government in the year 2004 has been repealed. “Punjab Chief Minister says that the 2004 Act still exists which is completely unconstitutional,” he added.
Khattar said that the SYL Canal should be built and the Haryana Government would apprise the Supreme Court about Punjab’s reluctance over this issue. “We will accept the decision of the Supreme Court in this regard,” added Khattar.
