Chandigarh: The Central Government has convened a meeting of Punjab and Haryana on the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar will hold a meeting in Delhi on January 4.

The Central government has started a round of talks to deal with the water dispute between the two states. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will chair the meeting.

Punjab and Haryana’s dispute over the water issue is currently in the Supreme Court. The apex court had in September directed the two states to find a solution to the issue through dialogue. In view of this, a meeting of the two states was also held in Chandigarh on October 14.

The next hearing of the case in the Supreme Court is on January 19, for which the Central Government itself is holding a meeting of the two states. The apex court had directed the Central government to resolve the issue through dialogue between the two states.

The first attempt was made by the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana by holding a meeting in Chandigarh and the meeting remained inconclusive. Now the central government has started making efforts.

On April 8, 1982, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had started the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal in village Kapuri. The Shiromani Akali Dal had also put up a morcha on the issue of water. The water issue has gone through several stages for a long time.

Captain Amarinder Singh had cancelled the water agreements in 2004. The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance had initiated efforts to return the acquired land for the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

According to the latest details, the Punjab government has started preparations for the January 4 Delhi meeting so that Punjab’s stand can be firmly put forward in the central meeting.

The first meeting between the two states has been inconclusive

The October 14 meeting between the two states remained inconclusive. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in his meeting with his Haryana counterpart, had made it clear that not a single drop of water was surplus in Punjab even though Haryana had insisted on the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

The Punjab government had also said that the waters of Ravi and Beas should be evaluated in terms of the current availability of water.

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Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said that Punjab has five abs but it does not have water, after a meeting with his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar on the SYL link canal remained inconclusive.

“At the time when agreement for the canal was inked, Punjab was getting 18.56 MAF of water which has been now reduced to 12.63 MAF, presently, so we don’t have any surplus water to share with any state” said the Chief Minister, while interacting with the media here at Punjab Bhawan after meeting with his Haryana counterpart on the issue of SYL canal.

CM said that Haryana is currently getting 14.10 MAF of water from Satluj, Yamuna and other rivulets whereas Punjab is getting only 12.63 MAF.

In a meeting of Punjab and Haryana on the issue of the SYL Canal, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has fulfilled the duty of being the son of soil by standing firmly to protect Punjab’s water. The interests of Punjab are completely protected under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann, said Punjab Agriculture and Panchayats Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal in a press statement issued here today.

Dhaliwal emphasized that the CM Bhagwant Mann’s firm stand in protecting Punjab’s waters with facts had left the opposition speechless. He told that today those parties are advising our government, had clandestinely laid the foundation of this canal for their vested political interests.

“Our government is committed to protecting the rights of Punjab,” He said adding that the Chief Minister today made the state government’s stand clear and would fight every battle to protect Punjab’s waters.

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Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to tell Punjabis what stand he would take on the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in his meeting with his Haryana counterpart tomorrow, saying this was of utmost importance as there were clear cut indications that he would betray Punjab’s interests at the instance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal.

In a statement here, former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said 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.

Asserting that Punjabis would not tolerate any such compromise, Dr Daljit Cheema asked the chief minister to clearly state that Punjab did not have a single drop of water to spare nor any land to construct the SYL canal before attending the meeting on this issue with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He said the chief minister should also make it clear that Punjab had exclusive rights to its River waters being a Riparian State and that Haryana as a non-riparian State did not have any locus standi on this issue.

The SAD leader also asked the chief minister to state that if Punjab had suffered losses in court on this issue it was because former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had forced then chief minister Darbara Singh to withdraw the State’s petition challenging Section 78 and 80 of the Punjab Reorganization Act. He said if this had not been done Punjab would not have suffered the subsequent judicial reverses. “Punjab is a victim of historical injustices. Judicial orders should not be used to divest it of its River waters”.

Dr Cheema said it was also incumbent on the chief minister to take a clear public stand on the SYL issue before entering into talks with Haryana because the latter had shown unimaginably weakness in standing up to his boss Kejriwal who was bent upon giving away Punjab’s waters to Haryana. “ Bhagwant Mann has publically endorsed the stance of the AAP Convener that water from Punjab should be released to Haryana. AAP has already made announcements to this effect in Haryana and is in the process of taking credit for this dubious feat”.

The SAD leader also asked Bhagwant Mann to use the opportunity tomorrow to convey Punjab’s objection to Haryana vis a vis its proposal to construct a new Vidhan Sabha building in Chandigarh for which it has asked the centre to allot land to it. “Mann should follow up this objection by approaching the Chandigarh Administrator as well as the home ministry to register his strong protest on this issue”, Dr Cheema added.

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Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today claimed that the Supreme Court’s decision on the SYL canal has been in favour of Haryana and only orders are yet to be passed in this regard, which can happen any time soon.

He said a letter has been written to the Union Water Resources Minister to initiate talks to Punjab over the matter. He was talking to reporters after listening to the grievances of the people at the multipurpose hall of CDLU.

On this occasion, AAP leaders and workers also protested against the Chief Minister. Khattar said the decision on SYL’ water supply to Haryana has already been taken by the Supreme Court and only orders are yet to be passed in this regard.

He took a dig at the Delhi Chief Minister, saying he was “badly trapped”. They have a bone stuck in their throat that they can neither swallow nor remove.

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Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said that he is ready to meet his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar over the SYL canal issue.

He said that there is a shortage of water in both the states, for which the Central Government should meet the water shortage in both the states.

He was speaking after AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal launched a campaign to ‘make India No.1’ in Hisar.

Aap supremo Arvind Kejriwal said the Congress and the BJP should clarify their stand on the SYL canal in Punjab and Haryana. Both the political parties are playing dirty politics over the SYL canal.

He said that the water level in both the states is falling. Therefore, the Central Government should arrange water in Punjab and Haryana.

“If Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have a solution to SYL, call me, I will tell the solution,” Kejriwal said.

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Chandigarh: Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has expressed apprehension on the Aam Aadmi Party government’s intention to protect the interests of the state on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in the Supreme Court about

The Haryana Assembly elections are near and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who belongs to Haryana, is also coming on a two-day visit to launch its campaign.

“We fear that all efforts made by the previous Congress governments to protect Punjab’s waters will fail as the AAP government is reluctant to take a tough stand in the Supreme Court,” Warring said.

The state Congress president said the Punjab Congress’ fears were further fuelled by AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta’s statement in April that SYL water would flow into Haryana from 2025, in which he had claimed that it was people who would form the AAP se government here. Gupta had said that this is not his promise, but a guarantee.

Warring said the AAP can go to any extent to woo the voters of Haryana. Even Kejriwal is visiting Haryana after apex court ordered both states to hold talks to resolve the issue amicably.

Warring asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to tell the people of Punjab what his government has done so far to save Punjab’s water from Haryana and what steps it is going to take in future in view of the Supreme Court’s directions.

The post CM Mann, Kejriwal visiting Haryana today; Congress corners AAP over SYL issue appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana to hold talks to find an amicable solution to the contentious issue of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the Union Jal Shakti Ministry to convene a meeting of the two chief ministers.

Seeking a report on the progress made on the matter, the bench adjourned the matter for further hearing on January 15, 2023.

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Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to tell Punjabis whether the guarantee given by Delhi Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta on behalf of the party that Punjab’s river waters would flow to each and every field in Haryana had been given with his blessings.

Terming the development as shocking, senior SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said “the Delhi MP, who is from Haryana, could have only given such an iron clad guarantee if he had been authorized to do so by AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal. The issue is whether the Punjab chief minister was taken in the loop or not. Bhagwant Mann should make his stand clear on this issue immediately as Punjabis will never allow AAP to barter away its core interests for electoral gains in Haryana ”.

Asserting that AAP was showing its true colours, Dr Cheema said “it seems this party can betray anyone, even crores of Punjabis who gave it an overwhelming mandate by electing 92 of its legislators to the State assembly. It is only one month since this victory and already AAP is taking Punjabis for granted by announcing that it would give away the river waters of the State to Haryana. It seems AAP is bent upon sprinkling salt on the wounds of Punjabis who are yet to come to terms with the snatching of their river waters by the Congress earlier”.

Stating that the SAD would never allow this conspiracy to succeed, Dr Cheema said “our river waters are our life blood. We have always maintained that we do not have one extra drop of water to spare. Much of our own land is facing the brunt of water shortage with 109 out of the 138 blocks in the State being put in the red zone due to declining water table. The SAD has led agitations to protect the river waters of the State. This includes the Kapoori Morcha as well as challenging the validity of Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganization Act which was interpreted to give control of Punjab’s river waters to the centre by then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in 1979. The SAD led government also handed back the land which was acquired for construction of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal back to farmers in 2016. Even now we are committed to take every recourse possible to ensure not a single drop of water is released to Haryana. We will not let our land be turned into a desert”.

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