Haryana Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal statement on the construction of contentious Sutlej Yamuna link canal, an issue on which Punjab and Haryana are already locked in a tussle for over five decades.
Moved by Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar on Wednesday, the House passed the resolution slamming Kejriwal for his remarks that he is against the construction of SYl canal as Punjab does not have enough water to share with other states.
The legislatures, cutting across party lines condemned Kejriwal’s statement that he gave during his visit to Punjab’s Kapurthala a day before. The statement comes at the time when the row over the construction of SYl canal has escalated between the two neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana.
Speaking in the state assembly on the third day of budget session, Dhankar said that the statement given by Delhi Chief Minister is really unfortunate and is against Haryana.
Kejriwal should decide whether he wants to look after Delhi or Punjab, said the Minister while referring to Munak canal in Haryana which is the main source of water supply to Delhi.
Notably, Punjab Assembly had on Monday passed a bill against the construction of SYl canal, providing
transfer of proprietary rights back to the land owners free of cost, sparking an immediate adoption of a resolution by Haryana Assembly
condemning Punjab’s move as “unilateral” and
“unconstitutional”.
The resolution stated, “Haryana is a water deficit state and the availability of water is 61 percent less than the total requirement.”
Punjab Government on Wednesday evening further hardened its stance on SYl issue by returning Rs 191.75 crore, the amount paid by Haryana for land for the canal project.
Meanwhile, reacting to the statement of his Delhi counterpart, Haryana Chief Minister on Wednesday suggested Kejriwal to remain neutral on the SYl canal issue and choose his words carefully.
Manohar lal while talking to the mediapersons said that like Haryana, Delhi is also affected by the similar issue. Delhi also does not have its own sources of water and instead, sourced it from other states, said he.
He added that as Haryana’s water carrier should remain safe in Punjab, Delhi’s water carrier should also be safe.
The Chief Minister said that no bill passed by Punjab Assembly would be considered to have been passed until the Governor signs it. All this do not have any bearing as this was a legal battle presently being fought out in the Supreme Court, he added.
Condemning Kejriwal for his remarks, Health Minister Anil Vij said that Delhi Chief Minister should understand what would happen to Delhi, if Haryana too behaves like Punjab with Delhi on its water share.
He said that Delhi has nothing of its own including electricity, water, milk, fruits and vegetables. This kind of small mindedness is not in the interest of the country, the Minister said.
Earlier, he had also posted on Twitter, “Kejriwal says Punjab have no water to spare for #syl to Haryana. If we say we also have no water to spare for Delhi what will #Kejriwal doIJ”
lashing out at the Punjab Government on SYl issue, Vij said the filling up of SYl canal in Punjab area is completely illegal. For this, he would meet Central leadership and appeal to them to intervene in this matter, he added.
Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjar, leader of opposition and senior INlD leader
Abhay Singh Chautala and HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi also condemned Kejriwal’s remarks.
Abhay Singh Chautala went onto say that a bill should be brought in to stop water to Delhi, only then Kejriwal will realize the seriousness of the present situation concerning SYl issue.