The Centre will soon write a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for a joint meeting with Haryana to resolve the contentious issue of construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal project.
This was informed by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday after his meeting with Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi. The Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria was also present in the meeting.
Khattar while talking to the mediapersons said that detailed discussions were held on various water related issues of Haryana. Besides this, an in-depth discussion with the Union Minister was held regarding the implementation of schemes and water requirements of the state, he added.
On the issue of SYL canal, the Chief Minister said that a meeting which Punjab’s Chief Minister had scheduled regarding the construction of SYL has not been held yet. In this direction, a letter will be written by the Union Minister to the Punjab Chief Minister.
Last year, the Union Minister had held a virtual meeting with both the Chief Ministers on August 18 to work out a solution for implementation of Supreme Court’s orders to complete the remaining portion of the SYL canal by Punjab. The meeting was called on the directions of the Apex Court which, during a hearing on July 28 last year, directed that Centre to mediate between the two states to work out an agreement acceptable to both the states on the SYL issue.
Notably, the sharing of the Ravi-Beas waters has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for decades. While Haryana has been seeking its rightful share, the successive Punjab Governments have refused to share water and complete the SYL canal, stating that it has no water to spare.
CENTRE APPROVES RS 1119.95 CR FOR HARYANA
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday said that an amount of Rs 1119.95 crore has been approved by Central Government for Haryana.
Khattar informed that to provide drinking water at the rate of 130 liters instead of 55 liters and to provide sewerage facility in 130 villages coming under Mahagram scheme, Haryana has requested the Centre Government to allocate an amount of Rs. 3250 crore so that an amount of Rs. 25 crore can be spent for each Mahagram in the state.
He said that after the release of the Central Soil Research Station’s report, the Central Water Commission will prepare the design of Adi Badri Dam and Somvati Barrage to be built on Saraswati river within a period of 15
days.
The Center has assured to provide Rs 500 crore for the development of Saraswati under the National River Conservation Scheme, he added.
The Chief Minister further said that under the 'Nal Se Jal' scheme, eight districts of Haryana have been completely covered and soon, Haryana will be the first state in the country to cover all the districts under this scheme.
He said that under 'Atal Bhujal Yojana', piezometers would be installed in 1669 villages of Haryana to record the level of groundwater and plans for better utilization of water would be prepared.
Haryana has also proposed to set up a model water body in an area of 15 acres for greywater management in one of the villages of either Baland village of Rohtak district or Dubheta village of Sonipat district. The latest technologies will be used in this model water body, he added.
Khattar also said that under the 'Mera Pani Meri Virasat' scheme, this year, a target of cultivating crops other than paddy in a total area of two lakh acres has been set.
He said that under this scheme, last year, alternate crops having less water requirement were cultivated in an area of 94,000 acres and an incentive amount of Rs 7,000 per acre was given to the farmers.
HARYANA ALREADY PROVIDING MORE THAN ITS ALLOCATED YAMUNA SHARE TO DELHI
With regard to sharing of Yamuna water with Delhi, the Chief Minister informed the Union Minister that Haryana is giving the latter more than its share.
The Chief Minister said that the National Institute of Hydrology had recommended releasing some additional water in the Yamuna. But the situation is that given the irrigation and drinking water requirements of Haryana, the state itself is facing water shortage, he told mediapersons.
Haryana is not able to discharge more water in the Yamuna. After the completion of Renuka, Kishau and Lakhwad dam projects on the upper Yamuna basin, the water situation will be assessed again and will be considered according to the situation, the Chief Minister added.