SYL: Rajnath’s move to break ice fails
DRAMA After Union home minister presses for dialogue to resolve the water dispute, Punjab says both states have agreed to initiate talks; Haryana shoots down Capt govt’s claim
CHANDIGARH:Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday made a failed attempt to get Punjab and Haryana on board to try and find a mutually acceptable solution to the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue through dialogue.
The Union minister , who was chairing the 28th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council (NZC) here, suggested that the chief ministers and chief secretaries of the two states sit and discuss the canal issue threadbare to arrive at a solution. “Efforts should first be made through marathon meetings, failing which the matter should be left to the court to decide,” he said. Both Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar were present.
While the home minister’s intervention did not get the desired response, the subsequent contradictory claims of the governments of Punjab and Haryana triggered a chain of events that revived the fault lines between the states over the controversial canal. After the meet, Amarinder’s office released a press note which said that responding to the home minister’s call, both states had agreed to try and find a “collective solution to the dispute” through dialogue.
“The home minister’s plea came after the Punjab chief minister pushed for consensual resolution of the SYL dispute, while calling for coordination by the states concerned with the Government of India to find a feasible solution for optimal utilisation of river waters based on internationally accepted riparian principles,” it added.
But the claim was strongly rebutted by the Haryana government within hours, with agriculture minister OP Dhankar issuing a written statement, calling it “misleading and incorrect”. He said that Khattar had made it abundantly clear that there was no question of any dialogue on SYL since the Supreme Court’s judgment has attained finality and Haryana’s execution petition is listed for hearing in July, 2017.
He further said all participating states had, in fact, agreed to hold meetings at the level of officers and political executives on all other contentious issues of sharing of power and water.
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, on Friday, suggested a fresh analysis of Sutlej, Ravi and Beas waters and requested the neighbouring states to cooperate.
The chief minister was speaking during the 28th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council held here, which was attended by representatives of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory, Chandigarh and New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.
“There is a consensus building up among the states for a reanalysis (of waters in the Sutlej). Haryana CM has accepted the proposal for reassessment under the supervision of the Centre,” chief secretary (CS) of Punjab Karan A Singh told mediapersons after the meeting. The secretary in the interstate secretariat (of the home department) at the Centre Sanjeevani Kutty also attended the meeting.
Punjab and Haryana are on a warpath on waters, as Haryana is seeking the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to take water from Punjab, while the latter is objecting to the canal on the plea that the quantity of water has reduced drastically over the past three decades since the SYL canal proposal was put forth. A case is pending in the Supreme Court.
“Punjab CM requested Haryana for an out-of-court settlement on the dispute,” said Punjab chief secretary.
However, the CM did not make a direct reference to the SYL, said the CS. “The officials of the union water resources ministry met officers from the states (separately) on the SYL issue on April 20,” he said, answering a query, adding that the Centre had to convey to both the states whether the meeting was open-ended or discussions had closed.
He also informed the media that Amarinder Singh also told the meeting that most watersharing agreements (with neighbouring states), signed in 1980s, were annulled by the Punjab government in 2004. Things now have changed drastically, so there was need to reanalyse the quantity of water.
Besides Union home minister Rajnath Singh, the others, who attended the meeting, included Punjab governor and UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Delhi lt governor Anil Baijal, J&K deputy chief minister Nirmal Kumar Singh, Himachal Pradesh health minister Thakur Kaul Singh and Rajasthan water resources minister Ram Pratap.
‘SHOW COMPASSION FOR J&K YOUTH’
Home minister Rajnath Singh also asked all northern states to deal with the youth from Jammu and Kashmir, who have come to these states to work or study with compassion and soft hand. “We need to extend warmth to them, the home minister said,” informed Sanjeevani Kutty.
TOMORROW, ALL OF YOU (PUNJAB) WILL DEMAND WATER SHARE IN SARASWATI RIVER ALSO. > MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR , Haryana chief minister