Chandigarh: Following the dictation of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) in which it has given two month extension to Punjab to construct the controversial Satluj-Yamuna-Link (SYL), the Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has urged his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh to take immediate steps to ensure construction of the SYL canal in Punjab territory.
As reported by the media while reacting upon SCI’s dictation Manohar Lal Khattar said “I thank the Hon. Supreme Court for its orders on the SYL Canal issue. The apex court has done justice. I appeal to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh ji, for his co-operation in construction of the SYL canal on Punjab territory for the benefit of farmers in both states.”
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Similarly, Amarinder Singh too welcomed the SCI’s decision “to give two months’ time to construct the festering SYL issue”.
Substantiating the Indian state’s policy in covert manner Amarinder Singh stated that the problem could be solved only through negotiations, he said that while Punjab did not want to deprive anyone of this essential commodity, the critical shortage of water in the state prevented it from sharing this vital resource.
“The state is taking all possible steps to conserve the depleting groundwater and had also set up separate Department for Groundwater Management to assess the availability of water and adequate steps for its conservation,” he claimed.
Furthermore, the Punjab CM added that water in Punjab rivers had declined over the years due to the melting glaciers in the higher reaches. He appealed to the Centre to initiate talks at the earliest to help find an amicable solution to the problem. Amarinder also welcomed the Supreme Court’s directive to stop all people agitations on SYL, saying neither Punjab nor Haryana could afford to spiral into violence over the issue, reads a quote from a report published in Indian Express (IE).