The central government has said that during the meeting, Punjab had said that the availability of water in the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers has reduced and hence it does not have any surplus water to share with Haryana.
The Central Government has told the Supreme Court that no solution has been found so far to the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) issue. The Center has said that the Jal Shakti Minister's meeting with the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana remained inconclusive but efforts will continue for a solution.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Friday, the Central Government has said that given the order given by the apex court on September 6 last year, a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana was held on the request of the Jal Shakti Minister. After this Jal Shakti Minister had a meeting with both the Chief Ministers. The central government has said that during the meeting, Punjab had said that the availability of water in the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers has reduced and hence it does not have any surplus water to share with Haryana.
Before discussing the clause relating to the completion of SYL in the Punjab Settlement of 1985 (Rajiv-Longowal Accord), let us discuss other issues. Since Beas and Sutlej rivers do not have surplus water to share with Haryana, the question of building the SYL canal does not arise. It also says that in the year 2016, Punjab had already denotified the land acquired for the construction of the SYL canal and returned it to the farmers.
In such a situation, the problem of law and order can arise due to the construction of the SYL canal. At the same time, Haryana was of the view in the meeting that the Supreme Court has passed an order for the construction of the SYL canal, so Punjab needs to comply with that order. The Central Government has said that despite its best efforts, no solution could be found regarding the construction of the SYL Canal. However, both states have agreed to attend future meetings to resolve the issue.
This is the SYL controversy
Punjab took Rs 1 crore from Haryana on 18 November 1976 and approved the construction of SYL in 1977. Later, Punjab started showing reluctance regarding the construction of the SYL canal. In 1979, Haryana approached the Supreme Court demanding the construction of SYL.
Punjab challenged Section 78 of the Reorganization Act in the Supreme Court on July 11, 1979. In 1981, the two states signed an agreement in the presence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In 1982, Indira Gandhi started the construction of the canal by planting a tuck in the village Kapuri in Patiala. In protest against this, the Shiromani Akali Dal opened a front against the excavation of SYL.
In 1990, on 3 July, two engineers associated with the construction of SYL were also murdered. In 2015, Haryana requested the Supreme Court to constitute a constitutional bench for the hearing. The constitution bench of 5 members constituted in 2016 called all the parties during the first hearing.
In 2019, the Supreme Court said that if both states do not build the canal, then the court itself will get the canal constructed. Right now in 2022, the Supreme Court has issued notices to both states to resolve the issue. On January 19, the center filed the report of the meetings held between the two states on the instructions of the Supreme Court.
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