‘No SYL canal at any cost’: Despite SC blow, Punjab sticks to bill
Notwithstanding the Supreme Court dictate to Punjab to not return the Sutlej-Yamuna link (SYL) canal land back to the owners, the Punjab assembly on Friday unanimously passed another resolution hailing its draft legislation to de-notify the said land and its restoration back to the farmers.
Notwithstanding the Supreme Court dictate to Punjab to not return the Sutlej-Yamuna link (SYL) canal land to the owners, the Punjab assembly on Friday unanimously passed another resolution hailing its draft legislation to de-notify the said land and its restoration back to the farmers.
The apex court had on Thursday stopped the Punjab government from returning the land that had been acquired to construct the canal over three decades ago.
On Friday, the House passed a resolution that the SYL canal could not be built “at any cost”, and the state could not allow it to be built in defiance of the rights of the state over its river waters.
Read more: SYL row escalates: Khattar returns Rs 192 crore cheque
Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal moved the resolution - stating that the original owners had already taken the physical possession of their restive canal land pieces “after hearing the news about the passage of the bill”.
Leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi and BJP legislative party leader and parliamentary affairs minister Madan Mohan Mittal endorsed the resolution that was passed unanimously amidst thumping of desks.
Channi, on the occasion, also said that it was during the Congress government of Capt Amarinder Singh that the state assembly had passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act in 2004, to “safeguard the interests of Punjab, which has no water to spare for other states.”
Read more : Can I get my father back? Asks slain SYL engineer’s daughter
The state’s legislature, cutting across the party lines, had on Monday passed the Punjab SYL Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Propriety Rights) Bill 2016 and even went to the state governor Kaptan Singh Solanki for his nod.
SYL row: Forest plunder goes unchecked; 1-lakh tress may be uprooted