The Act annuls the 1981 Indira Gandhi award and subsequent agreements relating to the distribution of Ravi-Beas waters among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
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Now with the government deciding to return the land to owners, the controversy over water sharing between the two states seem to have got even more convoluted. It should have prevailed upon the Central Government to put pressure on the Punjab Government not to do what it has done and passed the bill on returning the SYL land to the original owners. “Since water is the lifeline of Punjab, the question of sharing it with anyone does not arise at all”.
The SAD has played a masterstroke by passing a resolution on not accepting any “injustice” on the sharing of river waters.
Arguing before a Constitution bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave, Haryana said the law would render the Presidential reference on the validity of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act meaningless.
“The SYL will never be constructed”, Mr Badal observed, adding that “the government will not take money back from the farmers whose land was acquired rather their land will be returned to them free of cost”.
The Bill concerning the vexed issue of construction of SYL canal through which Punjab’s rivers waters had to flow to Haryana was adopted by the assembly in 15 minutes. The Khattar government also submitted a memorandum to Solanki after an all-party meeting that was not attended by Congress leaders.
Governor Solanki also gave two different versions in his address to the two state Assemblies – the simple explanation being that the Governor’s speech is written by the state government.
The resolution said that Haryana is a water deficit State and the availability of water is 61 per cent less than the total requirement.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the record of rights would stand amended and modified to that effect by the concerned Revenue authorities from the date on which this Act was notified. In response, the Haryana government and the assembly said the Punjab bill was “unconstitutional” and a threat to the federal structure.
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said he would speak to his Punjab counterpart Badal to express his “displeasure” over the issue.
The BJP has taken a stand in the Supreme Court favouring the construction of the canal, which has been termed as “pro-Haryana” by the political parties in Punjab.
Availability of water in Yamuna has declined drastically compared to the previous years and even out of this reduced availability, Haryana has to fulfil the drinking water requirements of the national capital of Delhi, the resolution said.
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The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today passed the Punjab Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Property Rights) Bill 2016 unanimously.
