Supreme Court to hear Sutlej Canal issue today

Punjab government had demanded that a tribunal be set up for re-assessment of water in the Ravi-Beas.

New Delhi, April 27: The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna link canal issue at 2 pm. The court on April 12, adjourned the matter to hear on Thursday. However, the final hearing was put off after the Centre told the court that a meeting of Punjab and Haryana was convened on April 12 to resolve the issue. Responding to this, the court made it clear that if the solution was not found, it would proceed with the matter in the next hearing.

The bench, including Justice Amritava Roy, considered the statement of solicitor general Ranjeet Kumar and deferred the hearing in the case.

It is to remind that in earlier this year, the top court refused to hear Punjab government's plea to adjourn the SYL canal issue till the elections results were announced and said that it would hear the matter again on February 22.

In January, the court had asked both the Punjab and Haryana governments to file their replies on the matter in three weeks.

The apex court granted permission for Punjab government after it sought more time to file the detailed reply on the same.

On April 22, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital around and had discussed the SYL issue.

On the other hand, Punjab government had demanded that a tribunal be set up for re-assessment of water in the Ravi-Beas. It has stated that the state had no water to spare.
In the meanwhile, Haryana had urged the Centre to build the remaining portion of the SYL canal in Punjab territory as soon as possible to carry out its share of river waters.

It is to mention that the decision to meet Modi came after both Haryana and Punjab reiterated their stated positions in a separate meeting with the Centre on SYL Canal issue on April 20 in New Delhi.

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