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SYL row: Not a drop of water from Punjab to be given to other states: Cheema
In a video message, Cheema said that Punjab has the sole right over its waters. “We are ready to make any sacrifice to safeguard the riparian rights our state,” he said, accusing the traditional parties of doing politics on this sensitive issue
Chandigarh: A day after AAP MP Sushil Gupta promised SYL canal water to every village in Haryana if the party comes to power there, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that not even a single drop of state’s water will be allowed to flow out to any other state.
In a video message, Cheema said that Punjab has the sole right over its waters. “We are ready to make any sacrifice to safeguard the riparian rights our state,” he said, accusing the traditional parties of doing politics on this sensitive issue.
Gupta’s statement has kicked up a political storm in Punjab with opposition Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) expressing apprehensions about the AAP’s dubious intentions. The two parties also asked the AAP and chief minister Bhagwant Mann to make clear their stand on Gupta’s statement that is detrimental to Punjab’s interests on river waters.
Punjab and Haryana have been locked in a dispute over the sharing of the Ravi-Beas waters for decades.
