For Punjab politicians, SYL Canal a cannon fodder but for villagers much depends on it

The Supreme Court’s reprimand to Punjab on Wednesday for not completing the construction of the long-disputed canal has reignited the controversy, giving politicians from the state and Haryana an ammunition to advocate for their sides. This issue has a history of bloodshed during the Punjab insurgency, and it remains a bone of contention for sharing waters between the state and Haryana.

For a commuter passing over the bridge, there’s no indication that they are crossing a canal that has been at the center of this dispute ever since then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid its foundation stone in 1982 in Kapoori village in Patiala. But, just 12 kilometers away, on Chunni-Morinda road in Bhateri village, Fatehgarh Sahib district, the canal is brimming with water. It appears functional, but locals reveal it’s a mix of recent floodwater and drain water from Kharar, creating the illusion of a flowing canal.

Despite Punjab’s pressing concern that it lacks water to share with Haryana and its opposition to SYL Canal, Bhateri residents rely on the dug-up canal – at least for this season – to save their village from floods. “Without this canal, floodwaters would have entered our homes,” said a woman. “It absorbed all the floodwaters.”

A short distance away, Kritika Sharma, a 19-year-old in her second year of B.Sc., learned about the Supreme Court’s SYL directions through an Instagram post and broke the news to her parents. Her father, Satpal Sharma, is bedridden due to a neurological ailment, and her mother, Seema Rani, is a homemaker. “It’s about our family’s land acquired for the SYL project,” Seema revealed, stating that 4.5 acres were acquired.

The family’s head, Roop Chand, passed away in 2021, leaving behind five sons. They no longer own agricultural land. One brother works as a photographer, another as a night security guard, and the remaining two as daily wage laborers, said Hardev, a photographer. Though not farmers, the family keeps a close watch on developments pertaining to SYL, as Seema claims the “compensation given was insufficient,” and they hope for “more compensation.”

Even if the land was returned to the family, they would lack the funds to level it. This concern stems from the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government de-notifying 5,000 acres of land in 2016 on which SYL canal was constructed in Punjab. A mutation process and canal filling efforts followed, halted by a Supreme Court stay, maintaining the status quo and appointing a receiver.

A retired Punjab education department employee, who requested anonymity, dismissed it as a political stunt. The land, he claimed, was never returned to the original owners. His 10 kanals of land were acquired, but he argued that the survey was “incorrect.” Ideally, the canal shouldn’t have passed through their village, given its low-lying nature. But, he said, political pressures led to this detour. “A former Governor” had visited another site, “located relatively higher,” which could have made a straighter route, but locals’ opposition prevailed. He added, “Now, drainage water is released from the Kharar side, and it flows down here.”

Harpreet Singh, an electrician course student at an ITI near the canal, noted that the it was supposed to flow to the other side as per its route but reverses when water is released from the Kharar side. Chand Singh, the sarpanch of Kapoori village, where the canal’s foundation stone was laid in 1982, emphasised that constructing it would only make sense if they receive water from it.

The nearby Ghaghar river serves only those whose land is nearby. The water table’s depletion makes groundwater use challenging. Farmers rely on groundwater, which now lies over 400 feet deep, compared to about 60 feet 25 years ago. Digging a borewell and extracting water from such depths costs between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

Back near the Chunni-Landran bridge on SYL, Dharminder Singh, a Todar Majra village resident, echoes concerns of the water level dropping to “500 feet”. This poses challenges for farmers without a canal or water channel nearby. Three acres of his family’s land were acquired for the SYL. He and his brother share over ten acres for cultivation.

Dharminder, who completed a hotel management course but chose local work over going abroad, believes the canal could only benefit the area if it weren’t lined with concrete. Concrete linings prevent water from seeping into the ground and replenishing the water table, rendering it useless.

Meanwhile, the area is witnessing a new development as farmhouses are sprouting up along the stretch from Landran to Chunni. Dharminder noted that nearly 50 per cent of the land in nearby villages has been purchased by outsiders over the years for setting up farmhouses, with most of the land bought by non-locals along the road.