People of Haryana have the full right over SYL water and I am affirmative that they will definitely get their right, said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday, ahead of his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday.

“SYL water is very important for Haryana. It is now necessary to fix a timeline in this matter so that the availability of water to the farmers of Haryana can be ensured,” Khattar said, while expressing optimism that this crucial meeting, scheduled for Friday, will lead to some positive solution.

A Haryana government spokesperson said that it is well known that despite two Supreme Court judgments, Punjab has not completed the construction of SYL. Instead of implementing the decisions of the Supreme Court, Punjab tried to obstruct their implementation by enacting the Cancellation of Agreements Act in 2004.

He said that under the provision of Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, according to the order of the Union government on 24 March 1976, 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) of water was allocated to Haryana out of the surplus water of Ravi-Beas.

“Due to non-completion of SYL canal, Haryana is using only 1.62 MAF of water. Punjab is illegally using about 1.9 MAF of water from Haryana’s share by not completing the SYL canal in its region,” the spokesperson said.

He said that due to this attitude of Punjab, Haryana is not able to take its 1.88 MAF share of water. Punjab and Rajasthan are using about 2600 cusecs of water from Haryana every year. If this water had reached Haryana, it would have been used to irrigate 10.08 lakh acres of land, quench the state’s thirst, and help thousands of farmers.

The spokesperson said that due to non-availability of this water, the groundwater level in south-Haryana is also going down considerably. “Due to non-construction of SYL, farmers of Haryana irrigate by using expensive diesel and running tube wells with electricity, which incurs an additional burden of Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore every year,” he said.

The spokesperson said that Haryana also bears the loss of 42 lakh tonnes of food grains every year. “Haryana would have generated an additional 130 lakh tonnes of food grains and other crops had SYL been established in 1983 in accordance with the 1981 agreement. The total value of this agricultural produce at the rate of 15,000 per tonne is Rs 19,500 crore,” he said.

The Supreme Court last month asked both the Chief Ministers to sit together and discuss the construction of the SYL canal which has been languishing for over two decades.

The SYL canal, once completed, will enable sharing of the water of the rivers Ravi and Beas between the two states. Punjab says that as per a state government study, many areas in the state may go dry after 2029.