Centre calls fourth round of SYL mediation on July 9

The talks for mediation between the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana on the issue of construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal will be held in Delhi on July 9.

Advertisement

The state government had been informed about the meeting by Union Ministry of Water Resources Secretary Debashree Mukherjee. A letter has been sent to Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, stating that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini will be present in the meeting to be held in Delhi on July 9. The meeting will be chaired by Union Minister CR Patil.

This will be the fourth round of talks between the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana on the issue in which the Centre is playing the role of a mediator. The matter will be heard by the Supreme Court on August 13. The Union Ministry of Water Resources is making efforts to build a consensus between the two states on the issue and the progress report of these meetings will be presented in the Supreme Court by the Centre at the next hearing.

Earlier, the meeting was to be held on July 8, but the Punjab Government had requested to fix it on another day. The Centre has now scheduled the meeting for July 9.

The last three meetings between the two states have remained inconclusive.

On the directions of the Supreme Court, the first meeting between the CMs of Punjab and Haryana was held on August 18, 2020, while the second meeting was held in Chandigarh on October 14, 2022. The third meeting was held in Delhi on January 4, 2023, under the leadership of then Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Shekhawat.