SYL canal issue: Has full right over river waters, says Khattar

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said his state has full rights over the surplus Ravi and Beas waters, a day before he is to meet his Punjab counterpart over the decades-old SYL canal issue.

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said his state has full rights over the surplus Ravi and Beas waters, a day before he is to meet his Punjab counterpart over the decades-old SYL canal issue. Under the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 and an order of the Union government, 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) of surplus water Ravi and Beas river water was allocated to Haryana.

The water was to be carried through the Sutlej-Yamuna link (SYL) canal, which has been a bone of contention between the two states. The discussion between the two chief ministers has been scheduled after the Supreme Court recently nudged them to meet and try to find an amicable solution to water-sharing issues.

Punjab has been demanding a reassessment of the Ravi-Beas waters volume while Haryana seeks the completion of the SYL canal to get its share. "Haryana has full rights over the SYL waters," said Khattar, according to an official statement. "The SYL waters are very important for Haryana. Now, it is necessary to fix a timeline in this matter so that the availability of water to farmers of Haryana can be ensured," he said. He expressed optimism that this crucial meeting, scheduled for Friday, will draw some positive solution.

On the other hand, opposition parties in Punjab have urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to stand firm on his ground on the issue. BJP leader and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh advised Mann to stick to his ground. "Please do ensure that there is no ambiguity in your stance, which may prove costly for the state in future," he cautioned Mann. "You have to be clear and categorical that Punjab has not a drop of water to spare for anyone," he said.

Amarinder Singh hoped that Mann was aware of the ground situation in Punjab, which is facing a water crisis. "We do not have any spare water for any other state, including Haryana, so there is no question of providing any water to anyone," he said in a statement. "While Haryana has no riparian rights over the Punjab rivers from which it is claiming the water, it has got absolute right over the Yamuna water coming through Tajewala barrage," he said, adding this was gross injustice to Punjab that the Yamuna water was not factored in during the division of resources on 60:40 ratio between both states.

He said Mann should ideally have taken everyone into confidence ahead of his meeting. Opposition parties had urged Mann to hold an all-party discussion ahead of his meeting with Khattar. Shiromani Akali Dal Thursday asked Mann to tell Punjabis what stand he would take on the SYL canal in his meeting with his Haryana counterpart.

In a statement, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said this was of utmost importance "as there are clear cut indications that he would betray Punjab's interests at instance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal". "The very fact that the chief minister had not explained his stand to Punjabis nor held an all-party meeting to firm up one stand on this issue indicated that he was under pressure from Arvind Kejriwal to arrive at a compromise with the Haryana government to help AAP gain politically in Haryana," SAD leader alleged.

Congress leader and All-India Kisan Congress president Sukhpal Singh Khaira cautioned CM Mann against making any compromise at the behest of his party supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Meanwhile, according to a Haryana government statement, under the provision of Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 and according to the order of the Government of India dated March 24, 1976, 3.5 MAF of water was allocated to Haryana out of the surplus water of Ravi-Beas.

Due to non-completion of the SYL canal, Haryana is using only 1.62 MAF of water. "Punjab is illegally using about 1.9 MAF of water from Haryana's share by not completing the SYL canal in its region," it said. If this water had reached Haryana, it would have been used to irrigate 10.08 lakh acres of land, quench the state's thirst and help thousands of farmers.

Due to the non-availability of this water, the groundwater level in South Haryana is also going down considerably. Due to the non-construction of the SYL, farmers of Haryana irrigate by using expensive diesel and running tubewells with electricity, which incurs an additional burden of Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore every year, as per the statement. (PTI)