NEW DELHI: Defying a Supreme Court order, Punjab assembly has passed a resolution moved by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal saying it “would not abide by any order against its interests on water”. The Supreme Court had stopped the state from returning nearly 4,000 acres of land acquired for the Sutlej-Yamuna canal to farmers.
Nearly 12 years after it ordered construction of Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, the Supreme Court cracked the whip on the politics meant to stop the construction, and asked Punjab government to maintain status quo on the canal land. A five-judge Constitution bench slammed the politics over SYL canal, which has found support from Congress and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose party AAP is contesting assembly elections in Punjab next year. It directed the Union home secretary and Punjab's chief secretary and director general of police to take control of the entire stretch of land in Punjab acquired for construction of SYL canal and “strictly maintain status quo”.
The order was passed by the bench after Haryana's counsel Shyam Divan showed media reports of farmers using earthmovers and bulldozers, allegedly at the command of politicians, to level the land meant for construction of the canal. “If a state can be allowed to take such steps which is in the teeth of the Supreme Court's decree, then the other state will also resort to extra-constitutional methods to protect its right. And that will spell the end of constitutionalism and federalism,” Divan said.
Both, the opposition and the ruling parties came together to clear the legislation to give back the land. The canal was constructed to share water between Punjab and Haryana, with the latter paying the most. However, in the ensuing war for water, Punjab politicians have started to fill the canal up with mud to make sure it cannot be used to route water to its neighbour. An old agreement dictates that water should be shared with Haryana via the canal.
