Punjab annuls SYL agreement

CHANDIGARH: In a fresh twist to the contentious SYL Canal issue that may well lead to a constitutional crisis, the Punjab Vidha Sabha on Monday unanimously passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004 nullifying its approval of the landmark tripartiate river water sharing agreement.
The Act, passed in a specially-convened session of the House just two days before the CPWD was to resume work on the canal''s construction, was immediately forwarded to the Punjab Governor Justice OP Verma for consent by a delegation comprising of Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh, Deputy CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Leader of the Opposition Prakash Singh Badal.
Commenting on the move, Punjab Advocate General Harbhagwan Singh said the Act had, in effect, annulled the grounds on the basis of which the Supreme Court had recently directed Punjab to construct the SYL Canal. He said Punjab was within its rights to promulgate an Act to terminate the agreement with Haryana and Rajasthan, which were free to seek legal redressal in its wake.
Talking to mediapersons, Amarinder Singh said that the Act would also negate the 1985 Rajiv-Longowal accord which earmarked each state''s share of the rivers'' waters. He added his government would appeal to the apex court for a review of its decision in the case.
It may be recalled that the SYL Canal Agreement was signed on December 31, 1981 by the then Chief Ministers of the three states in question — Darbara Singh (Punjab), SC Mathur (Rajasthan) and Bhajan Lal (Haryana) — allocating 3.5 MAF and 8.6 MAF of water from Ravi and Beas rivers to Haryana and Rajasathan respectively out of the surplus water, then estimated to be around 17.17 MAF. The agreement stipulated construction of the SYL Canal in Punjab to carry the water to Haryana and Rajasthan.
The Act passed on Monday, however, contests the two states'' claims on Punjab''s rivers, stating that the two were neither riparian nor basin states. It goes on to say that Punjab had accepted the utilisation of the river waters by Haryana and Rajasthan as a good neighbour, “but not as a matter of any recognition of their rights�.
It adds that "no reliable and scientific study of the hydrological, ecological and sociological impact of large-scale diversion of river waters to different basins had been undertaken under the 1981 agreement."
"Since the trans-basin diversion of waters would adversely affect the interests of Punjab''s inhabitants and render nine lakh acres of land dry and barren, it has become necessary in public interest to enact a law terminating the 1981 agreement," it says.