Chandigarh: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the central government to play a pro active role as an arbiter to sort out the issue between the states of Haryana and Punjab regarding the construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. It has asked to file an affidavit again in two months regarding the matter.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Ahasanuddin Amanullah and Justice Aravind Kumar asked Haryana and Punjab to sit together and resolve the dispute. The court said that the states should remember that both states are part of one country.
During the last hearing, the apex court had asked both the states to find an amicable solution. It had also asked the centre to convene a meeting with both of them to sort out the issue. The central government had filed an affidavit regarding the matter last week and presented it before the court today.
The centre in its affidavit has told the court that despite its efforts, no solution could be arrived. It said that the Punjab government has refused to complete the construction of remaining portion of SYL canal as it claims that water in Ravi, Beas and Sutlej has reduced and there is no excess water to share with Haryana.
"As there is no excess water in the Beas and Sutlej to be shared with Haryana, the need for the construction of the SYL Canal does not arise," read the center's affidavit. One of the other reasons given by Punjab is that In 2016 it had denotified the land acquired for SYL and had returned to the farmers. Any construction if done now on that land can lead to law and order problems, it added.
Punjab also seeks to reopen the 1985 Punjab Memorandum of Settlement on the sharing of rivers waters with other states. The state of Haryana, as per the centre's report, has refused to deliberate on any aspect other than the canal.
"Even after the best efforts by the centre, there has been no agreement on the issue of construction of SYL among two states in the meeting. However,both states agreed to discuss a workable solution on the issue in future. The Ministry of Jal Shakti is making all efforts to bring the states together for an amicable solution," read the centre's report.
The Punjab government had expressed its inability to complete construction of the remaining portion of the canal stating that it does not have any excess water to share with neighbouring Haryana.
