The Haryana government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court to seek early hearing of the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal row, reported PTI. The case has been going on for years, and the top court had earlier asked the Centre to explore the possibility of an amicable solution between Punjab and Haryana.
On Wednesday, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked the counsel to approach the court’s registry for listing of the matter before an appropriate bench.
The Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal is meant to distribute water among six states – Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Delhi. It was decided in 1981 that both Punjab and Haryana would construct their portions of the canal within their territories.
Haryana constructed the portion of the canal, but Punjab stopped work after the initial phase. In 2004, the state government passed the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act to end the 1981 agreement.
In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down the law that dismissed the pact to share water. In February 2017, it said Punjab cannot defy its order on construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal and asked the Centre to take over construction of the canal.
During the last hearing on July 11, the top court once again reiterated that Punjab and Haryana must execute its orders on the row.
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