Haryana Assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution condemning the passage of the Bill by the Punjab Assembly de-notifying the land for the SYl as “unilateral, unconstitutional and denying the authority of the Supreme Court, a step only to draw political mileage,” and requested the Union Government to annul this illegal and unconstitutional action.
Moved by the Irrigation Minister OP Dhankar, the resolution was unanimously adopted by the House.
Speaking on the resolution, Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar urged all the political parties to unanimously pass it by rising above the politics in the interest of the State.
He also condemned the unilateral, unconstitutional, denying the authority of the Supreme Court action of Punjab which is a step only to draw political mileage. The Chief Minister urged the Centre to annul this illegal and unconstitutional action.
Speaking on the resolution, INlD’s Jaswinder Singh Sandhu questioned the BJP Government and said that BJP has a Government at the Centre and is in alliance with SAD in neighboring Punjab, then why the Government has not yet resolved the issue. BJP should clear its stand on the issue as Punjab BJP legislators are also against giving due share of Haryana’s water, he said.
Sandhu also supported the resolution saying that Punjab’s act should be condemned and INlD is in support of the resolution. Following this, the Chief Minister intervened saying that the resolution should be passed unanimously and by rising above the politics in the interest of the state.
Others who also spoke on this resolution included Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu, MlA HJC Kuldeep Bishnoi and Independent MlA Jai Parkash.
Earlier, the state Irrigation Minister informed the House, “Haryana is a water deficit state and the availability of water is 61 percent less than the total requirement. Out of 126 blocks of the state, 71 blocks are overexploited in groundwater.
The situation is so grim that in half of the state, canal water can be supplied after a gap of 32 days for only 8 days, with the result that it is difficult to even fulfill the drinking water needs and ponds. Availability of water in Yamuna has declined drastically compared to the previous years and even out of this reduced availability, Haryana has to fulfill the drinking water requirements of the national capital of Delhi, he said.
Moving the resolution, Dhankar said, “Instead of fulfilling its legal and constitutional obligation to provide Haryana its legitimate share of water, Punjab Government preferred to pass the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 which was a blow to the constitutional structure of the country and undoubtedly was an attempt of contempt of the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Today, Punjab has made yet another attempt to circumvent and divert the outcome of the Presidential Reference under consideration of the Supreme Court and keep Haryana depriving its legitimate share of water by passing the Punjab Sutlej Yamuna link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill to de-notify the land, lawfully acquired for construction of the SYl.”
“This is a patently illegal act of Punjab and is in utter contempt of the Indian Constitution, federal structure of the country and the rule of law. This is a sinister move of Punjab Government having dangerous potential to undermine the unity and integrity of this country,” the resolution stated.
Passing the resolution, the House also requested the Centre for pursuing the matter in the ongoing Presidential Reference to take it to just conclusion and take effective steps for early completion of SYl canal so that rights of the people of Haryana are protected.