Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue to be heard in SC Tuesday

Haryana has been seeking the completion of the SYL canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre-feet of river waters.

The Supreme Court would on Tuesday take up the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue. In the last hearing in July, the court had asked the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana to form a committee to resolve the issue with the Centre’s mediation. “We hope and trust that functionaries of both states will rise to the occasion to find out a solution, which is in the interest of all,” the court had then said. It added that if required, they would hear the matter on merit.

Meetings between officials of Punjab and Haryana on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link issue have remained inconclusive. Punjab has maintained that the quantum of water flowing through the Ravi and Beas rivers had come down considerably. (Gurpreet Singh/Hindustan Times)

But the meetings between officials of Punjab and Haryana on the issue have remained inconclusive. Punjab has maintained that the quantum of water flowing through the Ravi and Beas rivers had come down considerably. It has been seeking a reassessment of the water volume.

Haryana has been seeking the completion of the SYL canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre-feet of river waters. It has maintained that Punjab should comply with the 2002 and 2004 Supreme Court orders in this regard. Haryana is getting 1.62 million acre-feet of the Ravi-Beas waters.

In July, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Punjab had no problem in sharing water with anyone if it had enough of the vital resource.

Singh on Monday met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi. An official release quoting the chief minister said he did not discuss the issue with the Union minister but sought a comprehensive mechanism from the Centre to check recurrence of floods as the state was not in a position to bear losses every year.

(With PTI inputs)