No consensus as Mann adamant on not sharing water; Khattar says ‘final meeting from our side’
"From our side, this was our final meeting (with Punjab). If the Centre wants another meeting, it can do so. As far as we are concerned, there is no reason in taking any more initiative," Khattar said after the meeting .
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Chief Ministers Bhagwant Mann and Manohar Lal Khattar meet to discuss the SYL canal issue.
The Punjab and Haryana chief ministers failed to reach a consensus over the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue Friday, with Bhagwant Mann saying his state does not have “a single drop of water to share” and his counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar later stating that it was his “final meeting” over the issue.
“From our side, this was our final meeting (with Punjab). If the Centre wants another meeting, it can do so. As far as we are concerned, there is no reason in taking any more initiative,” Khattar said after the meeting .
“For Haryana, the construction of SYL canal is a matter of life and death. The Supreme Court has pressed for it. The meeting was held in a very manohar mahol (pleasant atmosphere), but Mann Sahib did not agree,” said Khattar, adding that he will now brief Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat about the meeting”. Earlier, in the nearly two-hour long meeting at Haryana Niwas in Chandigarh, Mann said the question of constructing the canal does not arise as Punjab does not have any water to share.
“Haryana sought construction on incomplete SYL canal. We told them that when we do not have any water, why should the canal be constructed. If Haryana needs water then both the states should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If PM wants to give anything to Haryana, then he should make arrangement from Yamuna or elsewhere. We do not have a drop. We cannot call Satluj and Beas as rivers. Now, they are just drains,” said Mann.
Last month, the Supreme Court had nudged the two states to work out an amicable solution to the SYL canal row. Punjab has been maintaining that the quantum of water flowing through Ravi and Beas rivers had come down considerably, and therefore, it is seeking reassessment of the water’s volume.
Haryana has been seeking completion of the canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) water, and also that Punjab should comply with the 2002 and 2004 Supreme Court orders for the completion of the canal. Currently, Haryana is getting 1.62 MAF of the Ravi-Beas water.
The SYL canal was concpetualised for effective allocation of water from Ravi and Beas rivers. The project envisaged a 214-km canal, of which 122 km was to be in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana.
Haryana has completed the project in its territory. Though Punjab took up the work in 1982, it was later shelved following widespread protests.
Mann said despite being the “younger brother”, Haryana was getting more water than Punjab.
According to Mann, Punjab gets 4.22 MAF water from Ravi and Beas, while Haryana receives 3.50 MAF water. From Sutlej, Punjab gets 8.02 MAF while Haryana receives 4.33 MAF water.
Further, he said Punjab does not get any water from Yamuna while Haryana gets 4.65 MAF and it also gets 1.62 MAF water from the Sharda Yamuna link. “In all, Punjab gets 12.24 MAF water while Haryana gets 14.10 MAF water,” Mann claimed.
He pointed out that at the time of the agreement in 1981, Punjab was getting 18.56 MAF water but it has now reduced to 12.63 MAF. “How do were accept that agreement? Today, we gave a clear cut reply that we cannot build the canal. The land has been denotified and many original owners have reclaimed their land,” Mann said.
He went on to say that only 27 per cent of area in Punjab is irrigated with canal water. Rest 73 per cent is being pumped from underground aquifers. As many as 1400 km of canals and rivers have dried up in Punjab.
“Khattar also raised Hansi-Butana saying they could get water from this canal, but we told him that the issue was in Supreme Court. If we give water from there then our headworks in Patran area would fail.” the Punjab CM said.
Mann said that he told Haryana CM that a reassessment on availability of water will reveal that Punjab needs more water. “While all water-related agreements across the globe have a clause that the pact will be reviewed after 25 years in the wake of climate changes, no such clause was mentioned in this agreement. After 41 years, they want us to follow the same proposed division of water,” he added.
The Punjab CM also targeted the previous Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress government in Punjab over the SYL issue.
“I have put across my point strongly. The state’s point was not kept so strongly in the previous years. How was Devi Lal given permission to conduct a survey,” he asked, adding that the then Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had allowed survey of the canal to “appease” his friend and former Haryana CM Devi Lal.
Hitting out at the Opposition who wanted an all party meeting on the issue, he said, “I want to ask them, why should I hold a meeting?”
Showing a copy of the invitation of the groundbreaking ceremony of SYL during former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s time, in which Amarinder was also among organisers, Mann asked, “Why should I invite him? He has only played politics on the issue”.
Meanwhile, Khattar said, apart from SYL, some other key issues were discussed with the Mann. He said a committee of officials of the irrigation department of both states has been formed to clean the Ghaggar River.
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