New Delhi: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said instead of being at loggerheads with Punjab over the water sharing issue, the matter can be solved through discussion with the neighbouring state, news agency ANI reported. His remarks came after Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat held a meeting with CM Khattar and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann over the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.
“Punjab has agreed that water is diverted towards Pakistan. We would like to say that instead of diverting the water to Pakistan, it should be used by Punjab and Haryana. We can sit and solve the matter,” CM Khattar told ANI.
There has been a longstanding dispute between Punjab and Haryana over the SYL canal construction, similar to the Cauvery water sharing issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The dispute started when the canal was conceptualised for effective sharing of water from Beas and Ravi rivers between Haryana and Punjab. The project envisaged a 214-kilometre canal, of which a 122-kilometre stretch was to be constructed in Punjab and the remaining 92 kilometres in Haryana.
Haryana completed the project in its territory. However, Punjab, which launched the work in 1982, shelved it, claiming it does not have surplus water to share with any other state. Since then, the two states have engaged in a legal battle over the issue.
Amid the dispute, the Supreme Court on October 4 had asked the Centre to survey the portion of land in Punjab which was allocated for the construction of part of the SYL canal and make an estimate of the extent of construction carried out there.
Though the Haryana government hailed the top court’s decision, political parties in Punjab asserted that the state does not have surplus water to share.