Mann, Khattar fail to reach agreement on SYL canal row
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Friday failed to make any headway in the decades-old Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute after the Punjab government asserted that it does not have “a single drop of water to share”
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Friday failed to make any headway in the decades-old Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute after the Punjab government asserted that it does not have “a single drop of water to share”.
Miffed over this, the Haryana government said it will brief Union minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the matter.
The chief ministers of the two states held a meeting for nearly two hours at Haryana Niwas, in the presence of their respective state advocate generals, top officials and advisors, but failed to reach an agreement, according to people aware of the details.
While Khattar pressed for the construction of the canal, Mann claimed his state does not have surplus water to share with any other state.
The SYL canal has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for several decades. Haryana was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966. The canal was conceptualised for effective allocation of water from Ravi and Beas rivers. While Haryana completed the project in its territory, Punjab took up the work in 1982 but later shelved it.
The Punjab government has been maintaining that the quantum of water flowing through the two rivers had come down considerably and is, therefore, seeking reassessment of the water volume. Haryana, on the other hand, has been seeking completion of the canal to get its share of water from the two rivers. It also wants Punjab to comply with the 2002 and 2004 Supreme Court orders on completion of the canal.
At the meeting on Friday, Khattar said the Punjab government must execute the orders of the top court and construct the canal. The issue of availability of water can be resolved subsequently, Khattar said, according to the people cited above.
Mann, however, rejected the proposal, saying since his state does not have surplus water.
A seemingly miffed Khattar later told reporters that it was his final meeting with Punjab on the matter and that he will meet Union minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to brief him about the developments. “From our side, this was our final meeting but if the Centre wants another meeting, it can do so. As far as we are concerned, there is no reason in taking any more initiative,” he said.
He said he will hold a meeting with Shekhawat to brief him about Friday’s developments.
Mann, who also spoke to reporters after the meeting, said the question of constructing the canal does not arise as Punjab does not have any water to share. “If the people of Haryana need water, both states should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request him to arrange water for them from Yamuna or somewhere else. We have no enmity but how can we give water when we do not have it,” he said.
He also said that Haryana at present was getting 14.10 million acre feet of water, more than Punjab.
The meeting between the two parties was held after the top court on September 6 said it expected the Union jal shakti ministry as well as Punjab and Haryana governments to resolve the matter.
The court also granted them four months’ time to submit a progress report and fixed January 19 as the next date of hearing.
