Jalandhar: Capt. Amarinder Singh who had enacted section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act (PTAA, 2004)- which legalises the allocation of Punjab’s river water to non-riparian states of Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana today maintained that he would not allow construction of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal at any cost.
In a written press release issued today Capt. Amarinder Singh declared that he was prepared to go to jail in defiance of court orders in the SYL case but would not let a single drop of water leave the state.
“I am prepared to go behind bars, I will defy any orders to save Punjab waters,” Captain Amarinder declared at an ex-servicemen meet in Jalandhar, blaming Parkash Singh Badal for the SYL mess and exhorting the people to help the Congress win with two-third majority in order to take tough decisions in the interest of the state.
To Know More About Role of Capt. Amarinder and SAD (Badal) on River Waters issue, Watch This Video at:
The Punjab Termination of Agreements Act (PTAA) 2004 could be termed as a “murder” of Punjab’s riparian rights by none else than the Punjab’s own state assembly and elected representatives.
On 12 July, 2004 the Punjab Assembly passed PTAA in attempt to neutralise the Indian Supreme Court’s directions to complete the construction of controversial Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal before 14 July, 2004. The law was moved by a Congress Government led by Captain Amarinder Singh and it was supported by the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), thus this, the PTAA was passed unanimously by the state assembly.
Though the enactment of the PTAA has paused the issue of construction of the SYL for the time being, this law has done a larger damage. Before the enactment of the PTAA the river waters of Punjab were being robbed through illegal arrangements but since the adoption of Section 5 of the PTAA, illegal allocation of Punjab’s river water to non-riparian states has received the stamp of the Punjab Assembly.
It may appear strange, but it’s true, that in order to prevent construction of the SYL (that is supposed to carry out 35 LAF river water), the Punjab Assembly accepted and legalised the distribution of a major share of Punjab’s river water (around 147.5 LAF) to the non-riparian states of Rajasthan (86 LAF), Haryana (59.5 LAF) and Delhi (2 LAF).
It should also be noted here that according to Punjab’s ex-chief engineer G. S. Dhillon and and former PCS Pritam Singh Kumedan Haryana is already getting 16.2 LAF (out of 35 LAF) by additional discharge from the Bhakhra Bias Management Board (BBMB) through the Bhakhra Canal.
According to Pritam Singh Kumdan was wrongful to say that the SYL canal is being built to send out 35 Lakh Acer Foot (LAF) water to Haryana as Haryana was already getting 16.2 Lakh Acer Foot (LAF) water out of this 35 LAF. “Haryana is getting 16.2 LAF water through Bhakhra Main Line (BML) right from 1976 and the SYL canal is being constructed to take away remaining 18.8 LAF water only”, he said during a recent discussion on Punjab’s water crisis at Chandigarh.
Gurbir Singh Dhillon maintains that the Hansi Butana Link canal project of Haryana aims at taking away the remaining 18.8 LAF (SYL) water (though extra discharge in Bhakhra Main Line to which Hansi Buntana will link at Samana area of Punjab) even without actual construction of the SYL canal.