Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Tuesday, said the state government will strongly plead the case of the state in the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute in a meeting scheduled to take place on 14 October with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the CM said the meeting is taking place with his Haryana counterpart on the directions of the Supreme Court. The state’s interests will be fully safeguarded in the meeting and the state government will forcefully put forward the point of view of Punjab on the issue.
Mann said they will go fully prepared in the meeting to ensure that rights of the state are fully protected on the matter.
The CM said that unlike his predecessors, who usually evaded such important meetings, he will go fully prepared in the meeting.
Mann said he will go to the meeting after full homework to protect the interests of the state. He said that it is too early to derive any conclusion on the outcome of this meeting slated to be held later this week.
Meanwhile, Haryana CM, Khattar, said Tuesday that he would meet his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann on 14 October in a bid to resolve the SYL canal dispute. Khattar said that the meeting on Friday would take place in Chandigarh at 11.30 a.m.
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 waters of the rivers Ravi and Beas between the two states. Punjab says as per a state government study, many areas in Punjab may go dry after 2029.
Haryana has been staking claim to the Ravi-Beas waters through the SYL canal on the plea that providing water for irrigation was a tough task for the state. Haryana has been citing its contribution to the central food pool and arguing that it is being denied its rightful share in the water as assessed by a tribunal.

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