Explainer: Will another CM-level talks help resolve SYL canal issue between Punjab, Haryana?

Union Minister of Jal Shakti C. R. Patil’s statement that a meeting of chief ministers concerned would be held soon so that Haryana got its rightful share of water has revived hopes of another dialogue on the contentious Satluj Yamuna Link(SYL) canal issue between Punjab and Haryana. The last meeting between Punjab and Haryana Chief Ministers in December 2023 had remained inconclusive.

While Patil sounded confident of resolution of the decade-old water dispute between the two neighbours, respective states’ stated positions on the issue hold little hope for resolution of water dispute.

Punjab has been reiterating its oft-repeated stand that there is “no surplus water” to share.

“As a chief minister, I am saying we do not have any water (to share).  We are firm on our earlier stand that we do not have water,” Punjab Chief Minister M Bhagwant Mann had said.

However, then Haryana CM Manihar Lal Khattar had asserted that Haryana was well within its rights to demand water from Punjab. “We do not do politics on water like AAP. We only demand our rightful share of water” Khattar had said.

The SYL canal issue has been a bone of contention between the two states for the past several years.

The canal was conceptualised for the effective sharing of water between the two states from the Ravi and Beas rivers.

The project envisages a 214 km canal, of which a 122 km stretch was to be constructed in Punjab and the remaining 92 kilometres in Haryana.

Haryana has completed the project in its territory but Punjab, which launched the construction work in 1982, shelved it.

Haryana was carved out of Punjab on November 1, 1966.

The Haryana Government wants the implementation of the Supreme Court verdict on the construction of the SYL canal.

The apex court had asked the Centre to survey the portion of land in Punjab that the state was allocated for the construction of part of the SYL canal and make an estimate of the extent of construction carried out there.

Here is a background to the SYL issue:

1966-1980: Post-1966 reorganisation, Punjab refused to share its waters with Haryana

1980: Water-sharing agreement signed between Punjab and Haryana. It was decided to construct the 214-km-long SYL, of which 122 km was to be in Punjab

1982: Construction of SYL canal started at Kapoori village of Patiala

1985: Punjab Assembly repudiated the 1981 agreement

1986: Eradi Tribunal constituted on April 2

1987: Eradi Tribunal upheld the legality of 1955, 1976 and 1981 agreements and increased share of both Punjab and Haryana

1990: Construction of canal stopped after Chief Engineer associated with the project was shot dead by militants

1999: Haryana filed a suit in the SC seeking construction of canal

2002: SC directed Punjab to complete construction of canal. Later, Punjab filed a review petition

2004: CPWD appointed to take over construction work, which prompted the then Punjab Government to pass The Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, abrogating all its river water agreements. The President referred this Bill to the SC

2016: In March, Punjab SYL Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill passed to return the acquired land back to the original owners

November: The SC opined that the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, was invalid. Punjab passed an executive order, denotifying all land meant for construction of the canal. Punjab also demanded royalty for river water supplied to non-riparian states

2022: SC asks the Centre to mediate between Punjab and Haryana CMs and try to resolve the issue

2022-23: Meetings held between both CMs remain inconclusive

2023: Centre tells the apex court that talks between two states have failed