The stalemate over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal -- the focal point of a water-sharing dispute between Haryana and Punjab -- continued on Wednesday as the meeting over the issue remained inconclusive.
The meeting was held in New Delhi in which Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the Chief Ministers and officials of both the States participated.
After the meeting, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal said no consensus was reached in the meeting. He said the Supreme Court in its decision had announced that SYL should be constructed, but instead of discussing this pivotal issue, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his administrative wing were asserting that there is no water in the State.
‘Separate tribunal’
“..Rather they are asking to discuss sharing of water, whereas a separate tribunal has been set up for discussing issues related to water sharing. Distribution of water will be done according to the recommendation of the tribunal,” said Mr. Lal.
He said the Punjab government is not accepting the Supreme Court’s decision wherein the Act brought by the Punjab government in 2004 has been repealed. “Punjab Chief Minister says the 2004 Act still exists, which is completely unconstitutional,” he said. Mr. Lal added that SYL is the right of Haryana residents and he is hopeful that the State will get it.
‘No surplus water’
Punjab CM Mr. Mann said his State does not have even a single drop of water to share with Haryana.
“More than 78% of our 150 blocks are in the extreme dark zone due to the depletion of groundwater table. So Punjab can’t afford to share its water with any other State,” he said.
Mr. Mann added that at a time when the ‘anti-Punjab agreement’ for the canal was inked, the State was getting 18.56 million-acre-feet (MAF) of water which has now been reduced to 12.63 MAF. He said Punjab now doesn’t have any surplus water.
He said Haryana is currently getting 14.10 MAF of water from Sutlej, Yamuna, and other rivulets whereas Punjab is getting only 12.63 MAF.
