‘Won’t allow anyone
SYL TUSSLE
JALANDHAR/CHANDIGARH: Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal on Thursday struck a defiant note on the Ravi-Beas river water-sharing issue and virtually threatened the Centre against implementing the Supreme Court order against it.
“Nobody will be allowed to enter Punjab. As long as SAD cadre is sitting, do not dare enter Punjab,” Sukhbir said at Adampur in Jalandhar district where he was attending a World Kabaddi Cup match.
When asked if the Centre ordered Punjab to implement SC’s orders, Sukhbir shot back: “Whether it is Centre or Iraqi or American government that tells us to implement these orders, we won’t let anyone enter Punjab.”
Dubbing resignations by Congress MLAs and Amritsar MP Amarinder Singh as a political stunt, Sukhbir made it clear that his government would not resign.
“Why should we resign? Why we should give Centre the opportunity to implement these orders without resisting it? We will fight till the last,” he said.
Blaming former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the issue, he said, “If Captain (Amarinder) and his MLAs have to protest, they should resign from Congress.”
Meanwhile, welcoming the SC order, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday urged parties in Punjab not to give political colour to the issue.
On being asked about the Badals’ assertion not to spare a single drop of water for Haryana, Khattar said such acts should not be done in a federal system.
“Ours is a federal system and the decision of Supreme Court should thus be accepted by rising above politics,” he said.
To another query, Khattar said it was not a question of BJP-ruled states, but of distribution of water between states.
He said Punjab and Rajasthan were already getting their share of water from RaviBeas but Haryana was deprived of its legitimate share. What is the river water row? After Haryana was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966, differences arose over sharing of Ravi and Beas waters
Why is the SYL canal important? A decision was taken to construct the SYL canal to carry Haryana’s share of water to its “dry and arid areas”. Haryana completed construction in June 1980.
Punjab, miffed over the decision, did not start construction
What made Punjab start construction? Then PM Indira
Gandhi held a meeting of the CMs of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in 1981. Punjab agreed to construct the canal and all pending cases were withdrawn
What was the Rajiv-Longowal accord? Within weeks of the ground-breaking ceremony, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, launched an agitation. On July 24, 1985, then PM Rajiv Gandhi and SAD chief Longowal signed the Punjab accord. The settlement stipulated completion of the SYL by August 1986
What made Punjab suspend construction?
The SS Barnala-led SAD government started construction but work was halted when terrorists shot dead two top engineers and 35 labourers working on the project When were the inter-state agreements annulled?
Punjab assembly, on July 12, 2004, annulled inter-state agreements
Where do things stand today? The Centre sought SC opinion on validity of the Punjab law. The court pronounced its ruling on Thursday.
SC ACTION HAS STIRRED