Latest News | Khattar Govt Should Immediately Call All-party Meeting on SYL Issue: Hooda

Chandigarh, Oct 9 (PTI) Haryana Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said the BJP-led government in the state should immediately call an all-party meeting on the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal issue.

"If the government takes any stand in the interest of Haryana, then the Congress will stand strongly with it," Hooda, the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, said in Rohtak.

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Hooda's demand for an all-party meeting came in the wake of recent directions given by the apex court on the issue.

On October 4, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to survey the portion of land in Punjab which was allocated for the construction of part of the SYL canal in the state and make an estimate of the extent of construction carried out there.

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Political parties in Punjab have asserted that the state does not have a single drop of additional water to share with any other state, though political outfits in Haryana welcomed the apex court directions.

"SYL water is the right of Haryana," Hooda told reporters. He also alleged that the SYL canal matter was stuck due to the "negative attitude" of the state BJP and the BJP-JJP government.

He claimed that in the past, no steps were taken by the BJP-led government to get Haryana its rightful share of water.

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Haryana on the SYL canal issue in February 2017. After this, the Supreme Court gave clear instructions to Punjab, Haryana and the central government in July 2020, he said.

"The chief minister had earlier taken the responsibility of arranging a meeting with the prime minister on the (SYL) issue, but this has not happened till date," Hooda said.

The SYL canal issue has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for the past several years.

The canal was conceptualised for the effective allocation of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers. The project envisaged a 214-km canal, of which a 122-km stretch was to be constructed in Punjab and the remaining 92 km in Haryana.

Haryana has completed the project in its territory but Punjab, which launched the construction work in 1982, shelved it subsequently.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)