‘SYL canal plan redundant, need to reassess water-sharing formula’

CHANDIGARH: Even as the Supreme Court has given Punjab and Haryana four months more to resolve the dispute over Satluj-Yamuna link (SYL) canal, experts believe the original water-sharing formula and the canal infrastructure have become redundant.

Citing increased water consumption, the Punjab government has already made a claim over Yamuna water and demanded the formation of a fresh tribunal to reassess the volume of water available to both the states.G S Dhillon, who retired as chief engineer of Punjab and was also in charge of the SYL channel, described the canal’s construction as “not feasible”, even if the two sides revived it. “In terms of engineering, the project is not possible. It has no water connection and has been constructed in patches. It has been built in parts in areas of Anandpur Sahib and Ropar. It has no upstream or downstream. If at all it has to be built, the project will have to be started all over again. Punjab will not get anything out of it,” he said.
Dhillon said the suggestion that Punjab should stake claim to water from Yamuna came up at that time as well, but the issue lingered on. Now, however, the state is finding it difficult to meet its water needs. “As chief engineer, I too raised the demand. The water sharing formula devised at that time too has become irrelevant and Punjab’s share should go up manifold,” said Dhillon, who joined the department in 1951, when he was a part of the Bhakra Dam project.
Punjab retired chief engineer (irrigation) Amarjit Singh Dullet said Punjab had water to spare for other states when the pact was signed under the supervision of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in 1981. He said the right way forward was to have a tribunal that would look into the changed scenario as Punjab did not have the “surplus” water which was referred to in the pact. “The issue can be resolved only after a realistic assessment. The SYL canal itself will have to be constructed all over again. Punjab has a claim on the Yamuna as well and should get a share in its waters,” said Dullet, who also served as chief engineer (canals).
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a fresh tribunal to look into the issue. Punjab has a 14,500-km-long canal system and the total cultivable command area in Punjab is 42.9 lakh hectare. Of this, 30.88 lakh hectares has been brought under the “command area” of canal network. The total river water allocated to Punjab, which was 14.22 MAF till a few years ago, is distributed in the command area through seven canal systems — Sirhind Canal, Bist Doab Canal, Upper Bist Doab Canal, Sirhind Feeder, Eastern Canal, Bhakra Mainline, and Shahnehar Canal.