Punjab government to return SYL land

Chandigarh: Upping the ante on the Sutlej-Yamuna link (SYL) canal issue, the Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday announced that it will denotify the land acquired for the project and return it to the “original owners” at no cost.

The move came on the eve of the special session of the Punjab Assembly convened to discuss the issue in the wake of the Supreme Court holding as “unconstitutional” the 2004 law passed by the state government to terminate the SYL canal water sharing agreement with neighbouring states.

“The Punjab council of ministers today decided in public interest that the land acquired for the SYL canal project, at present vested in the Punjab government, free from all encumbrances, stands denotified with immediate effect and shall forthwith vest in the original land owners of their lineal descendants/legal representatives free of cost,” advisor to chief minister on national affairs and media Harcharan Bains said.

The SAD urged President Pranab Mukherjee to ignore the Supreme Court’s advice on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, as “it did not answer any of the issues raised by Punjab”.

The SAD’s core committee also declared its firm resolve not to allow the construction of the SYL as it will deprive Punjab of its legitimate claim over the rivers that flow through the state.

“We stand by the Constitution that guarantees us absolute and exclusive right over the waters of the rivers that flow through it. If Punjab can’t get water from Ravi and Beas, will it get it from Brahmaputra and Tung Bhadra?” felt the committee members.

A resolution passed at the core committee meeting on Tuesday said, “The SYL is neither necessary, nor feasible, also there is not event a single drop of spare water available to flow through it. Punjab itself is facing the horrific prospect of turning into a desert state because of the acute water shortage and shocking pace at which the subsoil water level is falling. Besides, no state through which a river does not flow, can be given water forcibly,” stated the resolution.

Giving details of the meeting proceedings, party’s general secretary Harcharan Bains said SAD is deeply “concerned and surprised over the” the SC’s advice to the President, “which completely overlooks the purpose for which the honourable President had sought the apex court’s opinion”. The advice, says the core committee, does not answer the four issues addressed to it by the President. The first of them was whether the Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, is illegal and unconstitutional. “The court was required to give details of the provisions to support its opinion but failed to offer any”. Mr Bains said the apex court’s opinion further deepened the belief that Punjab can’t get justice from the top constitutional institutions of the country.