The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution against sharing river waters with other states. According to the resolution, which was moved by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the state will demand royalties from Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan for any river water supplied to them over the past few decades. Badal also asked the government not to hand over land to any agency for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal.
“The state government will do everything possible to stop water from flowing to Haryana. We will not implement the [Supreme] Court order at any cost; not a drop of water from Punjab will be given to anyone even if we have to go to jail,” Badal told the Assembly. The apex court had dubbed the Punjab government’s move to terminate the six-state agreement “unconstitutional”.
The 2004 agreement was meant for the six states to share river water. On November 11, all 42 legislators of the Congress’ Punjab unit had resigned from the state Assembly to mark their protest against the Supreme Court’s verdict. Badal, however, accused the Congress legislators of “betraying Punjab and its people on territorial issues, including river waters”, reported IANS.
On Tuesday, the Punjab government said it will denotify land acquired for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal project and return it to the “original owners” at no cost. “The Punjab council of ministers decided in public interest that the land acquired for the SYL canal project, at present vested in the Punjab government...stands denotified with immediate effect,” said Harcharan Bains, advisor to Badal on national affairs and media. The land shall “forthwith vest in the original land owners of their lineal descendants/legal representatives free of cost”, he added.
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