IEP Chandigarh, October 13
Haryana and Punjab Chief Ministers will meet on October 14 on the issue of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Discussions will be held to address this issue in meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 11.30 a.m. The Chief Minister of Haryana, Sh. Manohar Lal and the Chief Minister of Punjab, Sh. Bhagwant Mann will be present in the meeting. Before the meeting, the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal stated that residents of Haryana have the right over SYL water and he is affirmative that they will definitely get their right. SYL water is very important for Haryana. Now it is necessary to fix a time line in this matter, so that the availability of water to the farmers of Haryana can be ensured. He expressed optimism that this crucial meeting, scheduled for Friday, will draw some positive solution.
It is well known that despite two Supreme Court judgments, Punjab has not completed the construction of SYL. Instead of implementing the decisions of the Supreme Court, Punjab tried to obstruct their implementation by enacting the Cancellation of Agreements Act in 2004. It is worth mentioning that under the provision of Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, 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 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.
Due to this attitude of Punjab, Haryana is not able to take its 1.88 MAF share of water. Punjab and Rajasthan are using about 2600 cusecs of water from Haryana every year. 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 non-availability of this water, the groundwater level in South-Haryana is also going down considerably. Due to non-construction of 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. Due to non-formation of SYL in Punjab region, the irrigation potential created to irrigate 10 lakh acres in Haryana is lying idle. Additionally, the state also bears the loss of 42 lakh tonnes of food grains every year. Haryana would have generated an additional 130 lakh tonnes of food grains and other crops had SYL been established in 1983 in accordance with the 1981 agreement. The total value of this agricultural produce at the rate of 15,000 per tonne is Rs. 19,500 crore.
