Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Nayab Saini, who held a key meeting on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue on Tuesday agreed to hold frequent official-level discussions on the issue to resolve decades-old canal dispute.
The matter was discussed in detail in the meeting which was also attended by Haryana’s irrigation and water resources minister Shruti Choudhry and Punjab Cabinet minister Barinder Kumar Goyal.
Briefing newspersons after the meeting, Saini said that both states have decided to hold meetings at the level of irrigation department officers for further detailed discussions on issues related to the SYL, so that practical and lasting solutions can be worked out.
Stating that Hayana is not Punjab’s enemy, but a brother, Mann, who also briefed newspersons in the joint press-conference, also said that the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere and that both the states want a resolution.
Mann said that both the states have decided that officers from both sides will meet frequently – three to four times in a month – so as to find a solution without compromising the rights of either state.
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For record, the SYL canal project, which aimed at sharing the water between Punjab and Haryana involved a 214-km canal, of which 122-km falls in Punjab and 92-km in Haryana; while Haryana has got its part done, Punjab has resisted it citing sharply fallen groundwater levels and reduced rivers flow.
The dispute has persisted for the past several years and the supreme court had also directed the two states in May, last year, to cooperate with the Centre for an amicable solution.
