Taking a strong exception to the resolution passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Wednesday said that the decision to charge cost of water supplied to non-riparian States, including Haryana and Rajasthan is “unconstitutional.”
lashing out at the Punjab Government for the “unconstitutional” decision, the Chief Minister said that it was also in the year 2006 that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had acted in a similar manner, but the Supreme Court had rejected that. Therefore, such actions of Punjab would not make any impact, said he while interacting with mediapersons in Rohtak.
Manohar lal said that whatever resolutions have been passed by Punjab on the issue of Sutlej Yamuna link (SYl) canal, the Central Government as well as the President would be urged to take action on the issues concerning Haryana.
He said that such resolutions would not affect Haryana.
The Chief Minister said that the decision of the Supreme Court on the issue of SYl favouring Haryana has shown a ray of hope to the farmers of the State. Many parts of Haryana would get water. There are areas in the State where there is scarcity of water during summer and now, those areas would not face such problem. We will ensure to get Haryana’s water share from Punjab, he said.
The Chief Minister also made it clear that he has no doubt in the implementation of SC’s ruling on SYl canal.
The Cabinet Ministers in Haryana have also condemned the SAD-BJP led Punjab Government for passing a bill to charge cost for the water supply.
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, OP Dhankar has termed as “anti-national” and a “political drama”, the introduction of Bill in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to get payment from Haryana for supply of water through SYl Canal from 1966 onwards.
This Bill has been introduced despite the recent decision of the Supreme Court favouring Haryana, he said.
Dhankar said the question of payment for water does not arise. In fact, Punjab should compensate the farmers of Haryana for losses to the tune of thousands of crores of
rupees incurred by them every year, he said.
He said that in a letter written to Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, in this regard on March 17, it had been mentioned that farmers in Haryana faced estimated losses of `30,000 crore every year, which should be compensated by Punjab. Dhankar said that Punjab Government should respect the Constitution and the decision of the Supreme Court. Haryana has incurred about `20 crore as legal fee in this case, he added.
Criticising the Punjab Government, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said that it seems the neighbouring State Government does not respect constitution. This is a serious issue and Haryana Government would apprise the Centre about the way, Punjab Government has been acting on SYl canal, he said.
Vij added, “We are keeping a tab on every decision of Punjab Government related to SYl canal and would give a befitting reply to them.”
On the other hand, BJP’s MP from Kurukshetra, Raj Kumar Saini said that the decision of Supreme Court on SYl canal should be implemented soon, amicably by Punjab and Haryana Governments. Both states should reach a consensus on SYl canal before the fight over water turn into a violent agitation just like Jat quota agitation happened earlier this year, said Saini.
Notably, Haryana Government has convened an all party meeting on Thursday on the SYl issue. The opposition has demanded a strong action from the BJP led State Government on the SYl issue and convening of a special session to discuss it following Punjab Government’s refusal to accept Supreme Court’s ruling on SYl canal.
Both the Congress and the INlD have also asked the State Government to immediately start work for the construction of SYl canal.