SYL Canal: 4 meetings done, 5th today; Centre looks to resolve dispute between Punjab, Haryana

The SYL Canal has remained a source of contention between the two states since the 1980s.

Earlier, on the directions of the Supreme Court, the first meeting between the CMs of Punjab and Haryana was held on August 18, 2020. Ast the time Capt Amarinder Singh was the chief minister of Punjab and Manohal Lal Khattar was his Haryana counterpart. The second meeting was held in Chandigarh on October 14, 2022 after the Aam Aadmi Party took over the reins of Punjab. The third meeting was held in Delhi on January 4, 2023, under the leadership of then Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said that the state has already taken a stand that it does not have a single drop of water to share with anyone. “Haryana is not our enemy. It is our neighbouring state. But we do not have water. How can we supply water to state when we do not have enough for our farming needs? The Centre is not willing to give us an additional water and it expects us to share ours,” he said.

Goyal added that Mann had taken a stand on the issue during the last meeting and the “will continue with its stand”. During the last meeting, Mann had told Paatil that the groundwater situation in Punjab is very grim and most of the river resources have dried up. Stating that Punjab needs more water to cater to its irrigation needs, he had asserted that the state has no surplus water for others and demanded its legitimate share in the Indus waters. He said that with the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, efforts should be made to bring water from the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) to meet the growing demand. Mann had said that 23 million acre feet of Chenab waters could be diverted to Punjab and further to Haryana, even Madhya Pradesh. He had said that the dispute had become a forever bleeding wound. Both the states are fighting for a few million acre feet of water. He had stated if Punjab gets 23 MAF from the Chenab, the whole dispute will be resolved forever.

It was learnt that Paatil had stated that he had noted the proposal to conduct feasibility studies on the western tributaries Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.

Saini, however, had expressed confidence that the SYL issue will be resolved soon, asserting that the Punjab government has also sought a solution to the problem. Saini said meaningful discussions were held in the meeting and that Punjab CM “also acknowledged that this issue should be resolved as it has remained pending for far too long”.

The two states had indulged in bitter exchange of words over supplying water to Haryana over and above its quota from Bhakra dam in May. Punjab had refused to release even a drop extra and a high drama had ensued when the chairperson of Bhakra Beas Management Board was locked up in a rest house at Nangal. Later, the Centre had announced to deploy CISF at the dam. Punjab government is now squabbling with Centre over the deployment of the central security forces stating that Punjab Police is capable of protecting its dams.