SYL row: Haryana to move apex court against Punjab

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28

The legal battle between Punjab and Haryana over the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal is set to intensify. The Haryana Government has decided to file a suit in the Supreme Court to declare the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act passed by the Punjab Assembly null and void.

Sources said the petition that would demand implementation of the two SC judgments on completion of the SYL Canal — called the lifeline of Haryana — would enable the carrying of 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) of surplus Ravi-Beas waters to the state. Besides, Haryana will seek early hearing of the Presidential Reference by the apex court.

After reorganisation of erstwhile Punjab into Punjab and Haryana on November 1, 1966, a dispute arose between the two states over sharing of the waters of the Ravi and Beas. The Government of India allocated 3.5 MAF of the waters to Haryana on March 24, 1976.

To carry its share of surplus waters, Haryana suggested a link canal be constructed in the territories of Punjab and Haryana. Haryana started construction of the SYL Canal in 1976 and completed it in 1980.

Subsequently, the Punjab Settlement accord was signed in New Delhi between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sant Harchand Singh Longowal on July 24, 1985. As part of the settlement, the Ravi and Beas Waters Tribunal decided the allocation of 5 MAF and 3.83 MAF of surplus Ravi, Beas waters, respectively, to Punjab and Haryana. The tribunal’s award is yet to be notified.

Punjab stopped work on the canal in July 1990 when about 95 per cent work was complete. Haryana approached the SC in 1996 seeking direction to Punjab and the Union of India to complete the canal in a time-bound manner. The SC on January 15, 2002, ordered Punjab to complete the canal in one year and in case of failure, the Union of India was ordered to take up the work.

On August 13, 2003, Haryana filed an execution application following which the apex court issued orders for completion of the remaining portion of SYL Canal in Punjab by the Government of India through its agencies on June 4, 2004.

However, on July 12, 2004, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, annulling all inter-state agreements signed by Punjab on sharing Ravi and Beas waters.

The Government of India, on July 22, 2004, sought the SC’s opinion on the validity of the Termination of Agreements Act through a Presidential Reference under Section 143 of the Constitution.