SYL canal construction: As Mann chalks out future plan, Congres in Haryana to support BJP-JJP alliance

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said once the copy of the Supreme Court’s order is received, the government will decide “whatever legal recourse needs to be taken or if any session of the state assembly needs to be called”.

Mann, meanwhile, made it clear that “not even a single drop of additional water will be shared with any other state at any cost”.

A government statement said that “Sutlej river has already dried up” and “Punjab has no surplus water to share with Haryana and reassessment of availability of water is required as per international norms”. A senior official said the Punjab government will likely call the Vidhan Sabha to present its reaction to the SC order.

BJP-JJP govt atitude negative, but Congress to give full support if it gets Haryana fair share of water: Hooda

Haryana’s Leader of Opposition and former state CM, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on Thursday announced that the Congress shall support the Haryana government provided “positive steps are taken to get state’s water” through SYL canal construction.

Reacting to the observations made by the Supreme Court a day before (Wednesday), Hooda said, “Nothing has happened, despite a clear verdict by the Apex court in favor of Haryana in February, 2017. After this, the Supreme Court gave clear instructions to Punjab, Haryana and Central Government in July 2020 on the same issue. After the court’s decision, all the parties of Haryana also met the President of India. At the same time, the Congress had also suggested that the state government sought a meeting with the Prime Minister with an all-party delegation. The government had asked for time from the Prime Minister, to which to date there has been no response.”

“The Congress has repeatedly said that the Punjab government is disregarding the decision of the Supreme Court. But the Haryana government instead kept wasting time by holding inconclusive meetings. Now the Supreme Court has once again reiterated its 2017 decision. But surprisingly, while ignoring the issue of taking Haryana’s rightful share of water, the Chief Minister is considering this only as a matter of canal construction. SYL water is the right of Haryana and it is very important for the agriculture of the state. The government should take this issue seriously. Irrigation will be possible on more than 10 lakh acres of land in the state, when and if this water becomes available for the state”, Hooda said.

“There is often a debate between different political parties in the state as to how much work was done to build SYL under which party’s government. The BJP is the only government in the history of Haryana under in whose term the SYL canal built in Punjab was closed, instead of taking things forward. The role of BJP and BJP-JJP government has been negative in providing Haryana its rightful share of water, till now,” Hooda claimed.

Hooda suggested that instead of trying to find politics in the issue, the BJP-JJP should try to understand the interest of the state. “If the government takes any step to provide water to Haryana, then Congress will rise above politics and stand with the government firmly on the issue. But if the government continues to adopt this wavering attitude, then Congress will oppose it and will raise its voice to defend the interests of the state,” Hooda said.

Hooda said that there are three major sources of water for irrigation in Haryana. “First from Yamuna, second from Bhakra whose entire water was to come from SYL and third from underground water. Due to non-availability of SYL water, underground water is being over-exploited and the water level has gone down rapidly. Dadupur-Nalvi canal was constructed during the Congress government only to recharge the groundwater level, but it is unfortunate that the BJP government shelved it”.

“During the Congress government, Hansi-Butana canal was built, through which the water of Bhakra was to be supplied to Haryana. But the BJP government did not even make any effort to bring water into it,” Hooda alleged.