Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal: How Prakash Singh Badal Is Trashing The Constitution

The Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal is a 214 Km long canal that connects the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers.

In 1966, when Punjab was bifurcated, no agreement could be reached on water sharing between the divided states. After a decade, in 1976, the Union government, under the terms of the Punjab reorganisation act, split Ravi-Beas river system’s surplus water into 60:40 ratio between Haryana and Punjab.

Once that was settled, the land for the canal was acquired and the construction started in 1978 under the Chief Ministership of Prakash Singh Badal. But due to the slow pace of work, distrust grew - both states filed suits against each other in courts, each blamed the other, and the issue got entangled in legal hurdles.

However, in 1981, on the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s intervention, the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan entered into a trilateral agreement, the so-called Indira award. The issue was resolved. Or so everyone thought.

Shortly after, Punjab got embroiled into Khalistan movement. Things got really ugly. Diversion of water from Punjab became a prestige issue.

Then, Akalis, led by Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, in their desperation to take the mantle of the Sikh leadership back from the militants, jumped into the anti-SYL agitation. The Akali government also passed the legislation declaring the Indira award void.

When the dust of the militancy settled, another chance for settlement came under the Prime Ministership of Rajiv Gandhi. He signed an 11-point accord with Longowal in 1985 on wide-ranging issues concerning Punjab and the Union of India, which also included an agreement for sharing of the surplus water. So, the canal construction resumed again. But soon after, Longowal was assassinated.

Though Haryana completed its side of the canal way back in the 1990s, the construction on Punjab side came to a halt (with barely a few Kms of work remaining) after the killings of labourers and some engineers, engaged in the canal construction, by the Khalistani militants. In 2004, Capt Amarinder Singh government put the final nail in the SYL’s coffin by passing the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004.

Four decades after the work started and after spending hundreds of crores of public money, the SYL canal is still incomplete.

So, What’s New?

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court started hearings into a presidential reference sent to it 12 years ago to decide the legality of Punjab assembly’s 2004 act which had terminated the state’s water sharing agreements. The Solicitor General, appearing on the behalf of the Central government, endorsed Haryana’s view that Punjab should stick to its commitment to the Union and complete its side of the canal.

During election campaign when the opposition has to go out of its way to find issues to cook the goose of the government, this was a gift from heaven.

Amarinder Singh grabbed the god-sent opportunity and accused the Akalis and their allies in Delhi of conniving to rob the poor Punjab farmers of their water. Prakash Singh Badal, whose government is facing a re-election after 10-year long rule, is in serious trouble over corruption charges, incompetence and pervasive drug menace in the state. It could hardly afford to be seen as anti-farmer.

Elections are due next year and between calculated electoral consideration and statesmanship, it wasn’t a hard choice for the Badals.

Before the Congress could actually start its blistering attack on the government, the wily old Badal outwitted it and introduced a resolution in the assembly on March 14, against sharing its water and any attempts by anyone to force it to construct the canal.

Not only that, CM Badal, with immediate effect, decided to return all the land that was acquired to build the Canal. Farmers couldn’t believe their luck. Thousands of acres which were acquired four decades back at dirt cheap rates are now worth crores. And they are getting it back without having to pay back the compensation they got from the government at the time of acquiring. Farmers not only ate the cake of compensation but also got the chance to have it too in the form of the land.

As soon as this was announced, political workers, prominently those of Akali Dal and Congress, in an act of gross constitutional violation, started leveling the canal with the help of locals. JCBs worked overtime to fill the canal. Thousands of trees along the SYL canal have been cut by farmers with impunity and taken away for their own use. This area comes under the forest department, hence is protected under Forest Conservative Act of 1980, but the department is helpless as all this is done with the full complicity of the state government.

The farmers’ rationale is that since the government has returned the land back to those from whom it was acquired, the trees are now their private property, not that of the forest department.

To make matters worse, Punjab CM on Wednesday returned Rs 192 crore to Haryana towards the cost incurred by it on the construction of SYL canal, with a promise of paying the interest on the amount later.

What now?

The Supreme Court intervened on Thursday and accepted the Haryana government’s plea for an interim restraint order. Justice Anil R Dave-led constitution bench has ordered the Punjab government to maintain status quo for the time being and told the Union home secretary, Punjab Chief secretary, DGP to take over the land.

But the Punjab Assembly, defying the Supreme Court, unanimously passed the resolution again on Friday, refusing to compromise its stand on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal. Badal is firm on his stand and vowed that the canal won’t be constructed at any cost. He declared:

Now, the next hearing is on March 31. Until then, it’s upto Centre to see to it that the SC’s directive is followed and Punjab government is not allowed to continue trashing the Constitution.

PM Modi too has a role to play - both as a leader of the NDA coalition which Akali Dal is a part of and as the de-facto head of the union government, where his responsibility is to do justice to the people of Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.

One can only pray that sanity prevails but don’t count on it because political hacks can go to any lengths to preserve their power.