In an attempt to divest its neighbouring States from getting share from Punjab's river waters, the State Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a Bill against the construction of contentious Sutlej Yamuna link (SYl) canal providing transfer of proprietary rights back to the land owners free of cost.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal moved the 'Punjab Sutlej Yamuna link Canal land (transfer of proprietary right) Bill' with the objective “to provide for transfer of proprietary rights to the land owners from whom the land was acquired by the State Government for the construction of SYl.”
Moving the Bill, Badal said “the Bill had been taken on priority basis as Punjab had no surplus waters to share it with other States.” He said that a water crisis existed in Punjab and “if a drop of water flow to other States from rivers of Punjab it will be very dangerous for the State.”
“The SYl will never be constructed,” Badal observed adding that “the government will not take money back from the farmers whose land was acquired rather their land will be returned back to them free of cost.”
Badal said around 3928 acres of land, acquired in the past for the construction of SYl, will be given back to farmers free of cost. The Bill concerning the vexed issue of construction of SYl canal through which Punjab's rivers waters had to flow to neighbouring Haryana was adopted by the assembly in 15 minutes.
leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi backed the Bill on behalf of his Congress party. Channi, however, said Congress protests the Centre's stand against Punjab and in favour of Haryana on the SYl issue in the Supreme Court.
“Congress party is against any conditions imposed on farmers by the government in returning them back,” he said. “In fact Congress was first to give a notice on the SYl issue to the Speaker of the assembly,” he said. The development comes as another turning point in the 61 year old water dispute between the northern states after the first agreement signed in 1955 which was followed by a number of agreements, including the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, 1966 Punjab Reorganization Act, the 1981 Indira Gandhi and 1985 Rajiv longowal Accord besides litigations in the Supreme Court, the first one being in 1976 when Punjab took the initiative in approaching the Apex Court.