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AAP has double standards on SYL canal issue: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar
Haryana chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar said Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP should clear their stand on the matter.
Accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of adopting double standards on the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue, Haryana chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday that the Punjab government is left with no option but to follow the Supreme Court directions.
Khattar said Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP should clear their stand on the matter.
“Ek sarkar do chehre kaise pehan sakti hai (how can one government have two stances),” he said, adding that the AAP should decide whether it is in favour of Haryana or against.
“AAP should not confine its discussions to Punjab Bhawan. It should extend its deliberations to a wider perspective on the SYL canal dispute,” he said.
Expressing gratitude to the SC for its decision, Khattar said the apex court has given a three-month deadline to the Centre to take possession of the land which has been acquired. He urged the Centre to immediately start the survey process in Punjab to complete the work of SYL.
Khattar said that Haryana has always been in favour of finding solutions through mutual dialogue. “But Punjab’s attitude towards the construction of SYL and the distribution of water has always been rigid,” said Khattar.
A statement issued by the Haryana government quoted Khattar as saying that Punjab has always insisted on sharing water instead of SYL construction, whereas in 2002, the SC had given a decree in favour of Haryana regarding the construction of the canal and sharing of water, making it clear that under the Article 9.1 and 9.2 of the Parliament, the cases of disputes between the states will be referred to a tribunal according to the ‘inter-state water disputes Act’.
Also, the dispute over construction of SYL canal has not been linked to Para 9.3 of the agreement. This makes it clear that the construction of the SYL canal has nothing to do with water sharing among the states and is not a water dispute.
