March,18,2016:
Punjab assembly passes resolution against Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal construction
The Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal row on Friday hotted up with Punjab assembly unanimously passing a resolution against its construction, saying the state does not have water to share with Haryana, which accused Punjab of "crossing all limits" and decided to approach the Centre and the Supreme Court.
The development came a day after the Supreme Court directed status quo on land meant for Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal after Haryana alleged that attempts have been made to alter its use by levelling it.
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is the leader of the House, moved a resolution in the assembly saying that his state is facing "crisis of water" and does not have even one drop to share with others.
"In view of this neither was there ever a need to construct SYL canal then, nor it is there now," the 88-year-old, five-time chief minister told the house.
The house unanimously resolved that it will not allow the SYL canal to be constructed.
Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, who is leader of the opposition, and parliamentary affairs minister Madan Mohan Mittal from the BJP endorsed Badal's view.
Channi said that Congress has and will always stand at the forefront to protect the interests of people of Punjab. "Mr Badal, we are all with you on this issue," he said.
Mittal, a senior BJP leader, said it is SAD-BJP government which has always stood up for the interest of Punjab. He said the state is facing shortage of water and there is no need to construct SYL.
His remarks came even as the BJP government in Haryana hit out at the Punjab government, saying it has crossed all limits and doesn't have faith in country's judicial system.
Haryana agriculture minister OP Dhankar said the Punjab assembly's resolution against the construction of SYL canal in Punjab for carrying Haryana's share of Ravi Beas was "unfortunate".
He said the assembly passed the resolution despite the SC on Thursday directed to maintain status quo.
"I feel Punjab government has crossed all its limits and doesn't have faith in country's judicial system. It has become judge on its own," Dhankar told reporters.
"This move of the Punjab assembly was to deprive Haryana of its rightful share in river water," he said.
"This is highhanded approach of Punjab," he said, adding Haryana will bring this issue to the notice of the Centre and the Supreme Court.
"We believe in the judicial system," Dhankar said.
The standoff over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal on Thursday saw MLAs of opposition INLD in Haryana and Congress in Punjab attempting to storm each other's assemblies as the dispute threatened to embroil Delhi whose chief minister Arvind Kejriwal opposed construction of the canal.
Attacking Kejriwal, Dhankar had, in a letter said Haryana will not be able to deliver "your share of water to Delhi since you have stood against the interests of farmers and people of Haryana" and asked him to get "your own canal constructed for carrying Delhi's share of water with your efforts".
What is the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal?
On December 31, 1981, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan entered into an agreement to share between them the waters of the Ravi, the Beas and the Satluj. The agreement also said the waters would be shared wit Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. It was agreed that Punjab would construct the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal in its state within two years.
On April 6, 1982, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had made the first dig of SYL canal at Kapori village. Major portions of the SYL canal were even completed in the 1990s at a cost of over Rs 750 crore.
However, the project never got completed.
Why Punjab moved SC over SYL canal?
With the rise of terrorism in Punjab, the SYL canal became a sensitive issue and politicians started squabbling about water-sharing . However, the Supreme Court, in January 2002, directed Punjab to continue digging for the SYL canal and ordered it to make the canal functional within a year. Punjab sought a review of this order. The SC dismissed the review in March 2002.
Undeterred, Punjab filed an original suit in 2003 seeking discharge from its obligation to construct the SYL canal.
The SC in its final judgment of June 4, 2004, directed the Union government to mobilize a central agency to take up construction of the canal in Punjab under the supervision of a high-powered committee and directed Punjab to hand over land to the central agency.
Punjab assembly passes law scrapping water-sharing agreement
In 2004, the Congress government in Punjab scrapped the water-sharing agreements with neighbouring states and refused to give any water to other states, especially to Haryana. A presidential reference was sought after the Punjab assembly unilaterally passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004, that categorically stated that it was nullifying all agreements on water sharing and that no water would be given to Haryana.
When the matter was finally taken up for hearing by the SC, 12 years later, Punjab was going to the polls and most political parties agreed to the legislation that was aimed at frustrating the SC's decree to construct the canal. The new legislation by the Akali-BJP government intended to cancel the land acquired for the SYL canal and return it to farmers if they paid back the compensation.
SC orders to maintain status quo
In a setback to Punjab, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed maintenance of status quo on the land meant for the SYL canal, after Haryana alleged that attempts are being made to alter its use by levelling the land.
The apex court, in its interim order, appointed Union home secretary and Punjab's chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) as the 'joint receiver' of land and other property meant for the SYL canal until the next date of hearing on March 31.
The SC passed the order on an urgent application moved by the Haryana government submitting that the Punjab assembly, on March 14, passed a bill against the construction of the contentious SYL canal. Haryana said the bill also provided for the transfer of proprietary rights back to the landowners free of cost.
The court order would affect the transfer of 3,928 acres of land -- along a 122-km stretch of the SYL Canal in Punjab -- to the farmers from whom it was acquired for the construction of the canal to transport 3.5 MAF of water to Haryana.
Why is Punjab against the SYL canal?
Punjab says that the SYL share of water to Haryana was based on 1920 data and now the situation has radically changed.
The Punjab Assembly on March 14 passed a bill (Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004) against the construction of the canal. "Punjab does not have a drop of water to spare and there is no question of our accepting or implementing any decision which deprives us of our fundamental right under the riparian principle," Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said.
What is Haryana's argument?
Haryana claims to be a water-deficit state and has said that it has been deprived of more than half of its legitimate share of 3.50 MAF in surplus Ravi-Beas water, which has resulted in a reduction in agriculture production.
The Haryana assembly, objecting to the bill passed by the Punjab assembly on March 14 to de-notify the land for the SYL canal, described the move as "unilateral, unconstitutional and denying the authority of the Supreme Court, a step only to draw political mileage".
Haryana's INLD MLAs protest outside Punjab assembly
Legislators of the opposition INLD in Haryana on Thursday protested outside the Punjab assembly against the bill passed by the neighbouring state that provides for returning 3,928 acres acquired for the SYL canal to the original landowners. Midway through the assembly proceedings, INLD MLAs led by leader of the opposition Abhay Singh Chautala and state unit president Ashok Arora went out of the House and started protesting at the gate leading to the Punjab assembly.
Countermove in Punjab
In retaliation, Congress MLAs of Punjab on Thursday tried to barge into the Haryana assembly but were stopped by the watch and ward staff. While the protest by INLD legislators lasted for quite some time, the Punjab Congress MLAs' action was a brief event. A scuffle broke out between the INLD MLAs and watch and ward staff outside the Punjab assembly.
Punjab and Haryana, with common capital Chandigarh, have assemblies in the same complex in Chandigarh.
Haryana returns Punjab's cheque
A day after Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal sent a Rs 191.75-crore cheque to his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar to pay for expenses incurred in the construction of the SYL canal, the latter returned the cheque on Thursday.
Terming the Punjab government's decision to denotify the SYL canal land "unconstitutional", Khattar said, "We are constantly in touch with the Centre on SYL issue. I have spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our all Members of Parliament have also met the PM on this issue."
In a letter to Khattar, Badal had stated on Wednesday that Punjab's council of ministers had decided to return all the funds received from Haryana for the SYL canal. However, Khattar told the state assembly on Thursday that he had returned the cheque.
Build your own canal: Haryana to Delhi
Upset over Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's statement that he was against the SYL canal as Punjab has no water to spare for Haryana, the M L Khattar-led BJP government on Thursday threatened to stop water supply to the national Capital. In a strongly-worded letter to Kejriwal, Haryana's irrigation minister Om Prakash Dhankar has asked Delhi to construct a separate canal from Nangal dam in Punjab to the Capital if it wants water. TOI
