Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal: Why Amarinder Singh said ‘Water will rise in Punjab’?
Can the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal threaten India’s security? Will Punjab become water due to canal? These are some of the questions that have always been part of the dispute between Punjab and Haryana.
However, on the instructions of the Supreme Court, Union Water Power Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tried to mediate this dispute between Punjab and Haryana. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was also present in the meeting.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has demanded a tribunal i.e. the tribunal to re-assess the availability of water in both rivers in a time bound manner with regard to the Sutlej-Yamuna Canal Scheme.
Amarinder Singh termed the meeting between the two states as meaningful, although he also expressed the danger of national security on this issue.
He alleged that efforts are being made to spoil the situation from Pakistan and he is making every effort to revive the separatist organization called ‘Sikhs for Justice’.
Experts believe that despite the order of the Supreme Court, many screws are still stuck regarding the implementation of this project.
The Chief Minister of Haryana said that his state was always ready for talks with Punjab on this issue but he conditioned that there should be no obstruction in the construction of the canal because the farmers of his state were already suffering due to lack of water. Are stricken
Chief Ministers of both the states also held a meeting with top officials of their respective states on this issue.
212 km long canal
According to the Minister of Water Power, there should not be any dispute about the sharing of water of Yamuna because the agreement between Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan was formed in 1994 itself and now the order of Supreme Court also came. has gone.
The 90-km portion of the 212-km long canal project is proposed to pass through Haryana. While Haryana has completed 90 km of its work, its work in Punjab is still incomplete.
Senior journalist Vipin Pabbi while talking to the BBC said that this project also seems to be going sour because the land which has been acquired by the Punjab government for this, has now been returned to those farmers. .
They say that work on this project was started in some areas, but the land has been leveled through bulldozers.
In the year 2016, all the Congress MLAs of Punjab resigned on the question of Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal. Amarinder Singh also gave up his Lok Sabha membership.
Chief Ministers of both states meeting on Monday at the initiative of Ministry of Water Power
During the Haryana Chief Minister raised the issue of Ravi and Beas and said that the remaining water of these two rivers is going directly to Pakistan. In the meeting, a plan should also be made on how the water of these rivers should be used for the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
All parties together in Punjab-Haryana
According to Vipin Pabbi, the water of these two rivers is flowing unnecessarily which is not being used.
Other experts say that Amarinder Singh is right that this is a very burning issue in which the remarkable thing is that the political parties of the two states are together.
While the Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are in favor of not building a canal in Punjab, in Haryana too, other political organizations besides the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Indian National Lok Dal are together in support of water and canal.
Assembly elections are going to be held in Punjab next year, so this issue will be hot among the voters.
Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told the BBC that no one can stop anyone’s road, electricity and water. He said that when he was the Chief Minister, all the political parties were sitting on the initiative of the Union Home Minister and everyone agreed that the canal should be built.
He says, “Now even if the Supreme Court has given a clear order, there is no scope for any doubt. The Sutlej-Yamuna link will remain.”
But both the major political parties i.e. Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party are in dilemma regarding this issue. In one state, they are in favor of it and in another state they are in opposition.
Water is important for everyone and in both the states the level of ground water is going down day by day. Despite the intervention of the central government and the Supreme Court, there is hardly any chance of resolving this issue.
