Punjab govt admitted Haryana has share in water, says Charanjit Channi

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Chandigarh, October 14

Amid Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann challenging the Opposition parties for a debate on the contentious SYL issue, former CM Charanjit Channi today said the AAP government has acknowledged that Haryana has a share in the water.

Challenging CM Mann to clear its stand, Channi, referring to the order on the SYL by the Supreme Court, said the state government has admitted in court that Haryana had share in the water.

Amid heightened politics over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Channi said on Saturday that it was for the first time that any government in Punjab had stated before the apex court that Haryana had a share in its water.

Quoting the apex court orders, the former CM said, “Learned counsel for the State of Punjab did endeavour to persuade us that with the passage of time, the availability of water has become less and thus, the share of Haryana being purportedly less and that can be satisfied by other measures. We may note that it has already been settled that the execution does not deal with the allocation of water.”

Channi said, “This means Punjab is willing to give water, but a lesser amount as the availability of water is less. It has agreed to give water to Haryana through other measures. Where is the water when Punjab itself is turning into a desert?”

He said, “If the CM is blaming Congress for SYL, the stand taken by the state government is more worrisome. The state has not objected to the survey.” Channi said Mann had hit out at the Congress saying that they allowed the SYL survey to take place. “Now, the government is itself allowing the survey.”

AAP quietly allowing SYL survey: SAD

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal claimed on Saturday that Bhagwant Mann government was quietly going ahead with a fresh survey of the SYL canal. In a tweet, SAD chief Sukhbir Badal claimed that the government had included the SYL survey as one of the topics uploaded on e-portal of the Water Resource Department. TNS