E-Paper
CMs meet on SYL today: Defend Punjab’s rights on river waters, opposition to Mann
Congress leader and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday cautioned chief minister Bhagwant Mann ahead of his meeting with Union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on January 4 regarding Sutlej Yamuna Link canal.
Congress leader and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday cautioned chief minister Bhagwant Mann ahead of his meeting with Union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on January 4 regarding Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.
The meeting on the long-standing dispute will be held in Delhi before the Supreme Court takes up the matter for hearing on January 19. Mann and Khattar had met earlier in Chandigarh on October 14 but failed to make headway in resolving the decades-long deadlock over the canal. The talks between the two chief ministers followed the apex court’s September 6 order in which it had nudged them to meet to find an amicable solution to the river water sharing dispute.
Bajwa said Mann should robustly defend Punjab’s rights on river waters, while Badal suggested that Mann should refuse to participate in the meeting as the proposal of giving water from Punjab to Haryana is in violation of the Riparian principle and no state should participate in any negotiations to give its water.
Badal accused Mann of “not acting as a custodian of rights of Punjab and Punjabis, but as a facilitator of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s electoral interests in Haryana and other states”.
“Last year, Bhagwant Mann has devoted all his time promoting Kejriwal and his interests at the cost of Punjab and Punjabis,” said Sukhbir adding that the CM has not taken time to understand the seriousness of the problems faced by the people of Punjab, let alone trying to solve them.
Bajwa said that Mann should put forward Punjab’s case on Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal with strong legal arguments.
The Congress leader said that Mann should establish a legal right of Punjab on river water as per the riparian laws. “Mann should use this opportunity to rectify the previous mistakes and firmly present this case, he added.
