A bench of Supreme Court justices consisting of CT Ravikumar, Sudhanshu Dhulia and SK Kaul warned the Punjab government for ignoring the direction to construct its side of a canal joining two rivers namely Sutlej and Yamuna. The direction has been 21- years old and the Punjab government has still not taken any action on it. The Supreme court also warned the Aam Aadmi party which is in the ruling position in Punjab and Delhi , to comply with the court’s orders. Also the bench said to the Punjab government that it has to accept the ‘maryada (decorum)’ of the Supreme Court.
Haryana has completed the construction of its side of the canal so the court directed the central government to supervise the talks between Punjab and Haryana governments on this issue.
A bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia has instructed the central government to assume responsibility for and finalise the pre-construction land surveys. They have rescheduled the case for a hearing in January.
What Is Sutlej- Yamuna Link Canal Row?
The issue dates back to 1981 when Haryana was separated from Punjab. The issue arises from a contentious water- sharing agreement during the separation of the states. The court back then advised the governments to construct a canal to ensure fair distribution of water. Both the states were responsible for constructing their side of the canal.
In 2004 , the Punjab government passed a law cancelling the SYL agreement and other similar deals.
In 2016, the Supreme Court responded by considering the law as invalid. However, Punjab continued to give back the lands to its original owners.
The last hearing happened in July ,four years ago. The court then asked both the governments of that time to meet and find a possible solution to the issue.
During today’s court session, the legal representatives of the Punjab government attributed the delay to pressure from opposition parties and difficulties in acquiring land from farmers.
The court replied , ” There may be political implications (but) something has to be done. Canal will have to be constructed in Punjab… do not compel us to issue tough orders.”
Previously the Haryana government said that the construction is the only remaining task and the Punjab government has to cooperate as it aligns with the principles of federalism. The Haryana government further said that they need to progress together.
The court also advised that the two states must resolve this matter together and do not compel the court to issue strong directives. As the court cannot mediate in the matter , the states must find a solution together. The court then turned its attendance to the representative of the central government and asked what steps the Union of India is taking.
How Are The Opposition Parties Responding To The Matter?
Surprisingly, Congress and BJP have both backed the AAP government. Amarinder Singh , a Congress leader, said that they respect the Supreme Court but Punjab has no water to give to others and that they cannot give water by taking away the rights of their people. He also asked Bhagwant Mann, the Chief minister of Punjab , to hire best lawyers to put forward Punjab’s case to the Supreme court.
Sunil Jhakar , BJP’s Punjab Chief also tweeted that Punjab doesn’t have a drop of water to share.
In response to the court’s criticism, the AAP government emphasised that it doesn’t have sufficient water resources to share with other states. They stated that there is a need to reevaluate the availability of water due to changes in underground water levels over the past 70 years.
Spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang added that thousands of acres of land are already in the dark zone and land has been denotified, so they have neither land nor water to allocate for the canal. He also said that they will present their perspective in the Supreme Court and communicate it to the central government.
