MLAs from Haryana staged a protest outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here on Thursday demanding the withdrawal of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal Land Bill. The bill passed by Punjab assembly however unlikely to get assent from Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki who holds dual charge of Punjab and Haryana.
Advertisement
This comes a day after the Delhi chief minister said he was against the construction of theSutlej-Yamuna Link canal as Punjab does not have enough water to share with other states. The Bill was passed hours before the SYL issue was being heard in the Supreme Court.
The Punjab Cabinet had on Tuesday made a decision to despatch a cheque for Rs 191.75 crore back to Haryana which had sent it towards construction of the SYL canal.
“We metP unjab Assembly Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal in his room in the complex and lodged our protest against the Bill passed by the House”.
Drawing the attention of the Governor to media reports stating that the farmers in Punjab have already started filling up the SYL Canal in Patiala and Ropar districts, he said it was a “blatantly illegal and irresponsible act on the part of Punjab”.
Appointing the joint receivers, as prayed for by Haryana, it said, “The status quo should be maintained with regards to lands (acquired for constructing SYL)”.
Goel said Badal would be held responsible if the people of Haryana reacted “harshly” to the situation.
Referring to Haryana’s application, Dhavan said what it was actually seeking was the invalidation of Punjab’s law of 2004 that terminated all river water-sharing agreements and seeking notification of Justice Eradi water tribunal’s order which has not been notified so far as a legal challenge to it was pending before the apex court.
Haryana says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal opposed the SYL canal for political gains in Punjab.
Advertisement
Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, also appearing for Punjab, told the constitution bench that it was hearing a presidential reference for its advisory opinion which is always accepted but is not binding.
