SYL: Punjab will not give drop of additional water: Mann

SYL: Punjab will not give drop of additional water: Mann
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said that Punjab does not have a single drop of water to share with anyone. Other than what we are already giving to the other states, no additional water will be given, he asserted after chairing an emergency meeting of the Cabinet called this morning.

This assertion comes in wake of the developments in the SYL case at the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday, wherein the apex court has asked the Union of India to conduct the survey of the land meant for the construction of the SYL canal in Punjab to know how much work has been done. Punjab government has been asked to extend cooperation in the survey.

It may be mentioned that no formal agenda for the Cabinet meeting was circulated, but the meeting was called to discuss the SYL issue, and also to grant approval to the appointment of Gurminder Singh as the new Advocate General of Punjab.

He replaces Vinod Ghai as the AG, who has rendered his resignation, allegedly after the legal fiasco regarding the conduct of Panchayat elections.

Meanwhile, after the SC hearing on the SYL case yesterday, both Opposition Congress and Akali Dal had accused the AAP government of not defending the case properly in the apex court. The assertion by the CM on Thursday is meant to counter the attack by his political opponents on this emotive issue of sharing of river waters.

It may be mentioned that of the 5,376 acres of land acquired for construction of SYL, ownership rights of 4,627 acres and one kanal and two Marla was de-notified in November 2016, using legal right of revenue officers to carry out survey and settlement of revenue estate and distribute land holdings. The remaining land has minors and distributaries from the main canal to irrigate fields in Ropar, Mohali, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib. The ownership rights were vested to the land owners in November 2016, after the Supreme Court had opined that The Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004, was invalid.