The Punjab government urged the Centre on Wednesday to resolve the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute forever by diverting the waters of the Chenab and other western rivers towards Punjab and Haryana.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann suggested using the suspended Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan to end the SYL dispute at a meeting called by Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil to resolve the issue between the two states, as directed by the Supreme Court, where the case will next come up for hearing on August 13.
Mann said after the meeting that the Union Minister and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini both viewed the proposal of Punjab positively. “How long will we live with this ulcer? Why should the waters of Indus and western rivers go to Pakistan which is shedding our blood? Who should we fight with, Haryana or Pakistan?” he asked.
Mann said 23 million acre-feet (MAF) of Chenab waters could be diverted to Punjab and further to Haryana and even Madhya Pradesh. “We are fighting for a few million acre-feet of water. If we get 23 MAF from the Chenab, the whole dispute will be resolved forever,” he suggested.
It is learnt that the Centre is weighing the proposal to conduct feasibility studies on the western tributaries Indus, Chenab and Jhelum and see how much water from these rivers could be diverted towards Punjab and Haryana.
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