Will meet Bhagwant Mann on October 14 to discuss SYL canal issue: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Tuesday that he would meet his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann on October 14 in a bid to resolve the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute. Khattar said that the meeting on Friday would take place in Chandigarh at 11.30 am. However, there has been no confirmation yet from Mann’s side.
The Supreme Court last month asked both the chief ministers to sit together and discuss the construction of the SYL canal which has been languishing for over two decades. It also got an assurance from Mann on meeting Khattar within a month to discuss the issue.
The SYL canal, once completed, will enable sharing of the waters of the rivers Ravi and Beas between the two states. Punjab says as per a state government study, many areas in Punjab may go dry after 2029. The state has already over-exploited its groundwater for irrigation purposes as it fills granaries of the Centre by growing wheat and paddy worth Rs 70,000 crore every year, it says.
Haryana has been staking claim to the Ravi-Beas waters through the SYL canal on the plea that providing water for irrigation was a tough task for the state. Haryana has been citing its contribution to the central food pool and arguing that it is being denied its rightful share in the water as assessed by a tribunal.
The Supreme Court last month said that the canal is meant to address the water shortage. “Water is a natural resource and living beings must learn to share it, whether it be individuals, States or countries… There is a shortage. But if you look at it only from the point of view of the State, then somebody will look at it from the point of view of the city… Then what will happen? I know there are sensitive issues in the state (Punjab), but some calls have to be taken. In the larger interest of the country, you have to sit down and work it out. It cannot be left as a festering wound. Water is a natural wealth to be shared. How it has to be shared is a mechanism to be worked out. We expect parties to work out a way to share the national wealth,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, heading a three-judge bench, told Punjab and Haryana.
The Supreme Court’s observations came after the Centre complained that Punjab had “refrained” from coming to the negotiating table to engage in talks with Haryana.
“We are very keen to participate in the discussion. The chief minister will cooperate. This is the assurance of the new dispensation in the state,” Punjab’s counsel affirmed in the court at the last hearing. The Supreme Court listed the case for further hearing on January 18, 2023.
