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Haryana CM Khattar to meet Punjab chief minister on Oct 14 to resolve SYL Canal dispute
The meeting comes a month after the Supreme Court asked the chief ministers of both states to discuss the construction of the SYL Canal and resolve the 26-year-old water dispute
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said he would be meeting his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Singh Mann on October 14 to resolve the long-standing water dispute over the constriction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal. The Haryana government is pressing for
implementation of the Supreme Court’s January 15, 2002, and June 4, 2004, orders to complete the remaining portion of the canal by Punjab.
The two chief ministers will meet in Chandigarh at 11.30 am on Friday. There has been no confirmation from the Punjab CM yet.
The meeting comes a month after the Supreme Court asked the chief ministers of both states to discuss the construction of the SYL Canal. The court had got an assurance from Mann on meeting Khattar within a month to discuss the issue.
Will strongly plead Punjab’s case with Khattar: Mann
Mann on Tuesday said that his government will strongly plead Punjab’s case in a meeting with Khattar on the SYL Canal issue on October 14.
Mann said the meeting with the chief minister of Haryana is being held in accordance with the directions of the apex court. “The state’s interests will be fully safeguarded in the meeting and the state government will forcefully put forward the point of view of Punjab on the issue,” he told journalists. The chief minister further said that unlike his predecessors, who usually evaded such important meetings, he will go to the meeting fully prepared and protect the interests of the state. He said that it is too early to derive any conclusion on the outcome of this meeting.
In response to a query on the governor’s refusal to clear the government’s choice as the vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Mann said that there are no differences between the state government and the governor of Punjab. He said the government’s fight is against inflation, unemployment, mafia and other maladies and ties with the governor are cordial. If the governor has desired, the state government will send the panel of three names for appointment to him, he said, adding that the tradition has been that the governor gives consent to the name proposed by the state government.
Water a natural wealth that must be shared: SC
“Water is a natural resource and living beings must learn to share it whether be it individuals, states or countries,” said a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath on September 6.
The apex court said that the issue in question is of execution of a decree of this court on the aspect of the construction of the SYL Canal which has been languishing for two decades. “The attorney general informs that despite various endeavours, the Punjab government did not join the negotiating table. Haryana, on the other hand, has been pressing for the implementation of the decree to complete the construction of the SYL Canal. A suggestion made by the Union Jal Shakti ministry was that the construction of the canal and other carrier canals could be completed while discussion on water sharing could continue for arriving at an agreement. On the same being expressed, both states were required to study and deliberate the views expressed in the meeting. The then Punjab chief minister had assured that before the second round of meeting with the Union Jal Shakti minister, he would have a meeting with the Haryana chief minister in an effort to resolve the issue amicably,’’ said the SC
The top court’s observations came after it was informed by the Centre that Punjab was avoiding the meeting to arrive at an amicable settlement. Then Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Khattar last met on August 18, 2020, and since then, Punjab has been non-committal on talks.
On SC orders of July 28, 2020, a meeting was held by the Union minister of Jal Shakti with Punjab and Haryana chief ministers on August 18, 2020. The then Punjab chief minister had assured that before the second round of meeting with the Union Jal Shakti minister, he will hold a separate meeting with Haryana chief minister to discuss the possible way forward.
Subsequently, the secretary, Union Jal Shakti ministry, in an October 12, 2020, letter to the Punjab chief secretary said that the second round of the meeting was being contemplated and the outcome of it must be conveyed to the Centre before the second meeting.
The apex court in its September 6 order said it expected the ministry of Jal Shakti as well as the two states and Rajasthan to lend full cooperation to see that the matter now proceeds further. “We grant four months’ time to submit a progress report to us as leaving no date fixed appears to result in no meeting. We are sure that the parties do realise the ramifications and the necessity of a negotiated settlement, more so, in view of the security concerns which arise when other forces start taking over in such a scenario,’’ the bench said listing the matter next on January 19, 2023.
Haryana which has a share of 3.5 million acre-feet (MAF) in Ravi-Beas waters gets about 1.62 MAF at present.
The apex court’s January 15, 2002, and June 4, 2004, judgments had ordered the completion of the remaining portion of the canal in Punjab territory. The Punjab assembly on July 12, 2004, enacted the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act annulling all inter-state agreements signed by Punjab relating to sharing of Ravi and Beas waters, including the December 1981 tripartite agreement signed by chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Answering a Presidential reference in the matter, a Constitution bench of the apex court had on November 10, 2016, set aside the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, a law which unilaterally terminated Punjab’s water-sharing pact with Haryana.
While the Punjab government has sought a reassessment of the volume of river waters, the Haryana government is firm that its share of 3.5 million acre-feet (MAF) in the Ravi and Beas waters and the completion of the canal are non-negotiable.
Issue needs a relook: Punjab
Punjab officials have been maintaining that volume of water flowing through Punjab rivers has come down drastically and the issue needs a relook.
To enable Haryana to use its share of the waters of the Sutlej river and its tributary, Beas, a canal linking the Sutlej with the Western Yamuna Canal, cutting across the state was planned.
The 212-km canal was to carry Haryana’s share of water to its southern parts. While 122 km of the canal was to run through Punjab, the remaining 90 km was to pass through Haryana.
Haryana completed its stretch of the SYL Canal in 1980 at a cost of ₹56 crore, while Punjab kept delaying the construction.