With the Supreme Court directing the Centre to conduct a survey of the land meant for construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab to know how much work has been done, Opposition parties in the state accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of “weakening” Punjab’s case in the matter for political gains in Haryana.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said Punjab has no surplus water to share, so no question of conducting a survey arises.
“… we vehemently oppose today’s order directing the Centre Government to conduct a survey of the land meant for construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab. Once the land of five rivers, Punjab’s water has drastically been drained and our underground water is also on the verge of depletion, so there is no question of sharing our water with any state,” the Congress leader said.
Accusing the AAP of weakening Punjab’s case, Warring said, “The Aam Aadmi Party has had a vested interest in this case from the start, it’s Rajya Sabha member Sushil Gupta had given a statement that our (AAP) government has been formed in Punjab, and now we will construct SYL and deliver water to every farm in Haryana. Not only that, their Supremo Arvind Kejriwal had made the same statements during campaigning in Haryana,”
“It’s been very clear from the start that the Aam Aadmi Party is planning to gain a foothold in northern India through this issue and that’s why the AAP Punjab government is befooling the People of Punjab by presenting a weak case in front of the Supreme Court,” he added.
The Punjab Congress chief said this is not an issue of mere construction of a canal, a lot of emotions of the Punjabis are connected with this issue, due to which there was a dispute in Punjab earlier also and the situation worsened.
“Punjab has faced a dark period due to the SYL issue and I warn the AAM Aadmi Party and all the other players involved to not play with the emotions of Punjab, as an escalation of this issue may take Punjab back to the black days of past,” he added.
Commenting on the order of survey, Warring said, “The Haryana government has conducted the survey and completed its side of construction because they need the water, but we have no water to spare so no question of conducting a survey in Punjab should arise,”
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia also condemned the AAP government “for succumbing to the orders of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and not arguing the case with conviction by failing to stress the Riparian Principle by way of which Punjab has an inalienable right over the water flowing in its territory”.
“It seems the Chief Minister has surrendered Punjab’s rights over its waters to Haryana in the same manner in which he has surrendered Punjab’s right to Chandigarh,” he added.
