Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president and Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja on Saturday said the Supreme Court had validated the State’s right on the water of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal and it was the responsibility of the Centre to ensure that the State gets its due share.
Ms. Selja was addressing a press conference at her official residence on Safdarjung Lane here in connection with the recent meeting of political parties of Punjab, seeking setting up of a tribunal to check river water availability in the State. She added that it was a clear violation of the Supreme Court order. She said: “The State Congress and the people have struggled a lot in the courts on the issue of SYL. We will not back down in claiming our constitutional rights.” Haryana has around 40 lakh hectares of cultivable land, of which 33 % is irrigated through canal water, 50% through tube wells and the rest by rainwater. Whereas a network of canals is spread over 30 lakh hectares of land in the State but the canals remain dry due to water scarcity. The Haryana government should move the Supreme Court on this issue and bring SYL water to the State and the Centre should also explain its position in this matter, she said. She added that the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to distribute the water of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal between Punjab and Haryana and why the Centre was not taking any steps for it?
“Is it not true that the Prime Minister did not give time to the parties of Haryana to meet them on SYL issue? After this, why did not the State government pressurise the Centre? Haryana government should clarify what efforts it has taken during the last three years,” she asked.
