Haryana CM Khattar raises water distribution with Punjab at Northern Zonal Council meet

The issue of equitable water distribution between Haryana and Punjab was brought up by the Haryana government on Tuesday at the 31st Northern Zonal Council meeting in Amritsar. Punjab is deceiving about the Sutlej Yamuna Link’s construction, according to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was speaking at the 31st meeting of the Northern Zonal Council (NZC), which was presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “Punjab government is continuously misleading on the construction of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL). They are continuously saying that the availability of water has reduced, but the construction of the canal and the availability of water are two different issues,” the Haryana government said. Additionally, he asked that work on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) canal in the Punjab region be finished. The administration also claimed that Pakistan receives the excess unchanneled water from the Sutlej, Ravi, and Beas rivers. “In the last 10 years, an average of 1.68 MF of Sutlej water and 0.58 MF of Ravi and Beas water went towards Pakistan. For the proper utilization of this national wastage, production of SYl is necessary,” they added. “There is only one carrier channel from Bhakra Dam to Haryana i.e. 61 km long Nangal Hydel Channel which is 68 years old. In case of any emergency, if there is no water supply in Haryana, in such a situation SYL will also work as an alternative channel,’” they said. According to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the project should now be thought of as Yamuna Satluj Link (YSL) rather than the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal because the state has no extra water to share with any other state. He said “The Satluj river has already dried up and there is no question of sharing even a single drop of water from it. Rather, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that water from the Ganga and Yamuna should be supplied to Punjab through the Satluj River.” (With agency inputs)