NewDelhi: As per the media reports the Central team that under took the inspection of the controversial SYL canal have filed their reports in the Supreme Court of India on the ground situation. A Bench comprising Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy today said the reports would be circulated to Punjab, Haryana and the Centre and posted the next hearing for the third week of January.
SYL Canal | File Photo
Appearing for Punjab, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani pleaded for slating the hearing after the Assembly elections in the state. “After the elections, everybody will become reasonable,” he said. The Bench, however, posted the case for next month.
Whist talking to The Tribune Union Home Secretary, one of the receivers has stated in his report that a team of officials visited 10 sites along the controversial SYL in Punjab and found no fresh or deliberate damage to the canal. The other two receivers, Punjab Police chief and Chief Secretary, submitted their reports in sealed covers.
Appearing for Haryana, counsel Jagdeep Dhankar wanted to know what did the Union Home Secretary mean by saying “no signs of any deliberate damage” in two of the fresh sites visited by the official team. The other eight sites had been visited by officials on earlier occasions and during the latest visit found no further damage to the canal.
The Bench is allegedly hearing Haryana’s plea for the completion of the controversial canal in Punjab to enable it to take its share of Ravi and Beas riverwaters.
Previously, it was on November 30, the SCI ordered “status quo on the canal land” and issued notice to Punjab and the Centre. The court also appointed receivers and asked them to file a status report.”
It was on 10th November 2016 when the Supreme Court of India by declaring PTAA ( Punjab Termination of All Agreements) ultra vires gave its verdict against the State of Punjab on the controversial Satluj Yammuna Link Canal and dictated its orders to make the aforesaid canal functional.
The following hard facts pertaining to the issue of Punjab’s river waters makes a worthwhile clarity of this whole episode.
Loot of Punjab Waters – the (so-called) Agreements:
The Central Governments of India made ‘extra-legal and extra-constitutional arrangements’ (as these arrangements were made in violation of relevant provisions of the Indian Constitution) to allocate Punjab’s river waters to the a fore-mentioned non-riparian states. These arrangements include the so-called agreements of 1955, 1976 (notification), 1981 (Indira Award) and 1986 (Eradi Tribunal). The Indian state used Section 14 of Interstate River Water Dispute Act, 1956 which was not applicable on Punjab rivers as Satluj, Beas or Ravi does not pass through Haryana, Rajasthan or Delhi. Similarly, section 78, 79 and 80 of Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966 – under which Bhakhra Beas Management Board was constituted and other arrangements to loot the river water of Punjab were made – violate the Constitutional scheme by allowing the Centre’s interference in State’s exclusive subjects.
Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, Section 5 of PTAA and Punjab’s riparian rights:
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 neutralize 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 had 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 34 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, Haryana is already getting 18 LAF (out of 34 LAF) by additional discharge from the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) through the Bhakhra Canal. Mr. Dhillon maintains that the Hansi Butana Link canal project of Haryana aims at taking away the remaining 16 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.
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