Chandigarh: The Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana are meeting in Chandigarh on Friday to resolve the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute following directions by the Supreme Court. According to sources, the meeting between the Chief Ministers will start at around 12 noon. The two sides are expected to submit a report about the outcome of the meeting to the SC.
Ahead of the meeting, the opposition in Punjab has mounted pressure on CM Bhagwant Mann to reiterate Punjab's stand at the meeting. Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Waring have also asked CM Bhagwant Mann to clarify in the meeting that Punjab won't give water to Haryana due to domestic demand.
The SYL canal dispute has been a major bone of contention between the two neighboring states since 1976 when Punjab took Rs 1 crore from Haryana on November 18 and approved the construction of SYL in 1977 to share the waters with Haryana. However, Punjab became hesitant about the construction of the SYL canal later owing to domestic pressures. In 1979, Haryana approached the Supreme Court demanding the construction of SYL even as Punjab challenged Section 78 of the Reorganization Act in the Supreme Court on July 11 that year.
Also read: SC orders Punjab and Haryana govts to hold regular meets for Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal issue
An agreement was reached between the two states in the presence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1981. In 1982, the construction on the canal was undertaken on the directions of Indira Gandhi in Kapuri village of Patiala. However, Shiromani Akali Dal opposed the move.
In 1985, the Rajiv-Longowal Pact was signed to expedite the construction. The dispute turned ugly in 1990 when two engineers engaged in the construction of SYL were murdered on July 3. The then Chief Minister of Haryana, Hukum Singh, had demanded from the Central Government that the construction work should be handed over to the BSF.
In 1996, the Supreme Court ordered Punjab to construct the SYL Canal in 2002 in one year. In 2015, Haryana requested the Supreme Court to set up a constitution bench for the hearing. A 5-member constitution bench constituted in 2016 had invited all the parties during the first hearing. During the second hearing held on March 8, construction of a 121 km long canal began in Punjab.
By March 19, the Supreme Court had stopped the construction of the canal bridge by ordering the status quo. In 2019, the Supreme Court said that if both the states do not build the canal, then the court itself will get it constructed. On November 10 ,2016, the SC ruled in favor of Haryana. The court had ordered that sufficient water be given to Haryana.
On July 26, 2020, the court ordered the central government to mediate between the two states. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had intervened in the matter, but to no avail. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar had also raised the issue with Delhi CM and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal in a bid to mount pressure on the AAP government in Punjab. However the meeting too failed to break ice.
