Everything You Need To Know About The Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal Issue

As the Supreme Court readies to announce its verdict on Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal issue, lets take a look at its Chronology:

• 122 kilometre stretch of it falls under Punjab and the remaining 92 kilometre is in Haryana.
• It starts at Palla village, near Delhi.
• The canal though designed to carry a maximum of 10, 500 cusecs of water, will actually carry 6, 500 cusecs of water from Punjab to Haryana, as per an agreement of water sharing.
• The canal takes off from the tail of Anandpur Sahib Hydel Channel near Lohand Khad, a few miles away from Kiratpur Sahib in Ropar district and enters Haryana near Kapoori village in Patiala district.
• Besides  water transfer , the canal will also cater to the  irrigation needs of the agriculture based villages of Rupar and Patiala districts.
• Two  hydel projects are also planned to generate power.
• Another major advantage is that the canal would make available  shipping from India’s east coast to west coast, thus drastically reducing the freight related expenditure.
• The digging began in 1984. A major part of the canal was completed in the Punjab territory in 1990s itself, spending around 750 crores of rupees. Only a small part is left to be completed, which has a story for itself.
• The unattended canal, though, is almost in ruins now, with the brick lining peeling off at places, bushes invading the channel, causing floods and destruction in the rainy season.
• The canal comes under the Bakra- Baes Management Board, BBMB, constituted under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, which is a central legislation, (like the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation act, creating Telangana).

1. 1966 :

• Following the Indus Water Treaty 1960, between India and Pakistan, India got the unrestricted right to use the waters of three rivers: Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
• The waters were shared among Punjab, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.
• The history of the current dispute can be traced back to the mid-1960s, when the Punjab state was reorganised.
• On 1966 October 31, the state of Punjab was divided; and a new state of Haryana was created. Some parts were also transferred to Himachal Pradesh, then a Union territory, and the city of Chandigarh became a Union territory and served as the capital of both the residual Punjab and Haryana.
• When the state was bifurcated, the sharing of the river water also became a bone of contention. Being a successor state, Haryana had the eligibility to receive a share of Punjab’s waters.

2. 1976:

• In 1976, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi brokered a deal to divide the water, such that each state received 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) of water.
• Also Rajasthan was to get 8 MAF and Delhi 0.20 MAF.

3. 1979:

• But this deal was not furthered by the Punjab government of the time, following which Haryana approached the Supreme Court in 1979.
• Punjab also challenged this litigation.

4. 1980s:

• Needing a political solution rather than a judicial one, once again Indira Gandhi intervened and at her behest, Punjab withdrew its suit from the Supreme Court.
• But Shiromani Akali Dal, SAD continued to campaign against the canal. SAD’s Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 had also condemned the canal.
• The foundation stone of the canal was laid on April 8, 1982, by the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Kapoori village, in Patiala.
• But the construction of the link canal had to be halted, following militancy in Punjab in the 1980s. The labourers working there were attacked, and two engineers were shot dead,  the superintending engineer, and the chief engineer.

5. 1985 :

• another peace brokering was achieved as part of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord of 1985 (The Punjab Accord), but not with any lasting effect.
• A Tribunal under Justice V Balakrishna Eradi was also set up that year, to specify the quantum of Ravi-Baes waters (another dispute) to be shared among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

6. 2002 :

• Acting in 2002, the Supreme Court directed the Punjab government to continue digging for the project.

7. 2004 :

• Punjab state legislature refrained from its upper-riparian commitment and passed the  ”Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004″ , whereby it sought to de-notify the land acquired for the project.
• The Act annuls the 1981 Indira Gandhi award and also subsequent agreements relating to the distribution of Ravi- Beas waters among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
• The validity of the law was questioned, as it was in direct confrontation to a Supreme Court judgement (a PIL by Mr. Naresh Kumar Kadyan has questioned the validity of the Act of 2004, passed by the Punjab Assembly. He has sought quashing of the Act. He has also asked that the judgement of the Supreme Court regarding the completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal be immediately ordered to be complied with.)
• In 2004, the President of India, made a reference to the Supreme Court, (under the powers bestowed up on him by Article 143 of the Constitution), regarding the validity of this state law.

8. 2016 :

• In 2016 March only, the Supreme Court took up the matter for hearing.
• Meanwhile, adding fuel to the fire, the Punjab legislature passed another act, the  Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill 2016, which seeks to restore the land (around 5376 acres) acquired for the canal, back to the farmers free of cost.
• Even though, it is unlikely that the Governor will give assent to this bill, work has already been started by the frenzied land-owners to level the land and reclaim it, thus wilfully destructing the canal, on which hundreds of crores have already been spent.
• Presently, the Supreme Court has ordered status quo on the Bill.
• But even after that, the Punjab assembly has unanimously passed a resolution that the SYL canal cannot be allowed to be built.
• Punjab defends its act, stating that under Article 143, the Supreme Court has only advisory functions, and hence cannot pass an assumptive interim order. (By PTC Network Bureau)

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