Punjab, Haryana fail to reach agreement; Bhagwant Mann says not a single drop of water to share

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana governments failed to make a headway in the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue on Friday, with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann saying his state does not have "a single drop of water to share".

After the meeting, a seemingly miffed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said it was his final meeting with Punjab over the issue.

"From our side, this was our final meeting, but if the Centre wants another meeting, it can do so. As far as we are concerned, there is no reason in taking any more initiative," Khattar told reporters.

In a one-and half-hour-long meeting at Haryana Niwas here, Mann clarified that the question of constructing the canal does not arise as Punjab does not have any water to share.

Calling Haryana Punjab's "younger brother", he said there was no enmity, but the neighbouring state was getting more water than his own.

Mann said instead of seeking water from Punjab, Haryana should let some Yamuna water flow into his state.

The Punjab chief minister said if Haryana faces water shortage, he will accompany Khattar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request him to arrange water from either Yamuna or Ganga or "anywhere else".

On the other hand, Khattar called the SYL canal the lifeline for Haryana, and said though the Supreme Court has pressed for it, Punjab is not in agreement.

He said he will hold a meeting with Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to brief him about Friday's developments.

Last month, the Supreme Court had nudged the two chief ministers to meet and work out an amicable solution to the SYL canal row, which has been a bone of contention between the two states for several decades.

Punjab has been maintaining that the quantum of water flowing through Ravi and Beas rivers had come down considerably, and therefore, it was seeking reassessment of the water's volume.

Haryana has been seeking completion of the canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) water, and also that Punjab should comply with the 2002 and 2004 Supreme Court orders for the completion of the canal.

Currently, the state is getting 1.62 MAF of the Ravi-Beas water.

The SYL canal was concpetualised for effective allocation of water from Ravi and Beas rivers. The project envisaged a 214 km canal, of which 122 km was to be in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana.

Haryana has completed the project in its territory. Though Punjab took up the work in 1982, it was later shelved.

Haryana was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Mann said he had done his homework on the issue. He pointed out that Haryana at present was getting 14.10 MAF water, more than Punjab.

According to Mann, his state gets 4.22 MAF water from Ravi and Beas, while Haryana receives 3.50 MAF water, whereas from Sutlej, Punjab gets 8.02 MAF while Haryana receives 4.33 MAF water.

Further, he said Punjab does not get any water from Yamuna while Haryana gets 4.65 MAF water and that it also gets 1.62 MAF water from the Sharda Yamuna link.

"In all, Punjab gets 12.24 MAF water while Haryana gets 14.10 MAF water," the Punjab chief minister claimed.

"Today, we gave a clear cut reply saying we cannot build the canal. The land has been denotified and many people have got back their land. We do not have water, so the question of building the canal does not arise," Mann said.

He pointed out that at the time of the agreement in 1981, Punjab was getting 18.56 MAF water but it has now reduced to 12.63 MAF.

He said 27 per cent of Punjab's agriculture is dependent on surface water and the remaining 73 per cent is being fetched from underground.

He said a reassessment on availability of water will reveal that his state needs more water.

While all water-related agreements across the globe have a clause that the pact will be reviewed after 25 years in the wake of climate changes, no such clause was mentioned in this agreement, he claimed.

Mann also targeted the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress over the SYL issue.

He said as the then Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had allowed survey of the canal to "appease" his friend and former Haryana chief minister Devi Lal.

Similarly, former chief minister Amarinder Singh, who was an MP at the time, had welcomed the then prime minister for the ground-breaking ceremony, he said.