The Punjab police arrested Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly Abhay Chautala, for violating prohibitory orders when they attempted to step into Punjab to dig the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal at Shambhu barrier on NH-1 at the Punjab and Haryana border.
Fifteen party MLAs and two MPs were among those who courted arrest after they were stopped by the Punjab police near the Shambhu barrier for breaching section 144 of the Cr P C.
“SYL canal is the lifeline of Haryana and we will fight to get water for the State,” said Mr. Chautala, addressing a “Jal Yudh Sammelan” rally at the Ambala vegetable market. Thousands of INLD workers then marched towards the Shambhu barrier in an attempt to enter Punjab and start digging the SYL Canal in symbolic gesture. At the barrier, the Punjab police issued them a warning and asked them to leave. They were arrested when they refused.
Strong case
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, meanwhile, said the INLD was inciting the people to dig the canal so that the decision of the Supreme Court cannot be implemented. “The State had presented a strong case for the construction of the SYL Canal in the Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the State. The step taken by the INLD was not in the interest of the people and was more likely to harm the State.”
He said the Shiromani Akali Dal and the INLD were colluding to hamper the construction of the canal. “Haryana government will not allow these parties to succeed in their evil designs and will ensure that Haryana get its rightful share of the water within the ambit of the law,” he said.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh warned of a serious law and order problem in the old Naxalite and Khalistani belt of southern Punjab if the SYL canal construction was completed without taking the ground realities into account.
Pointing to the huge infrastructural cost involved in the canal construc
